Canadiens focus on flipping script for Game 5 against Lightning

Every playoff series has a defining moment.

It can be a crushing check, a timely goal or a one-sided fight. It can be virtually anything that galvanizes one team and debilitates its opponent.

And that moment might have transpired during the second period of Game 4 Sunday night, when Tampa Bay defenceman Max Crozier, making his series debut, delivered a clean, yet devastating open-ice hit on the Canadiens’ Juraj Slafkovsky in the neutral zone.

Canadiens winger Juraj Slafkovsky grimaces after taking a hit from Tampa Bay Lightning defenceman Max Crozier during the second period of Game 4 at the Bell Centre on Sunday. John Mahoney / Montreal Gazette

Although Slafkovsky returned for the third period after immediately going to the dressing room, the Canadiens weren’t the same team afterward.

Their two-goal lead evaporated. The Lightning’s comeback began with a late second-period goal from Jake Guentzel, followed by an early score in the third from Brandon Hagel — his first of two in the period, including the winner at 15:07, and his sixth goal in four games.

That the winning goal would have gone wide had it not deflected off Hagel’s chest personified the Canadiens’ plight on a night when they somehow snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.

“If you let that moment define the series, you’re putting yourself in a bad spot,” head coach Martin St. Louis said after Tuesday morning’s practice in Brossard. “Don’t let moments like that define it. Rewrite it.”

We’re about to discover whether the Canadiens can rewrite what appears to have occurred. And whether they have a player capable of seizing the moment.

Their best-of-seven series against the more experienced Lightning resumes Wednesday with Game 5 at Benchmark International Arena (7 p.m., CBC, SN, TVA Sports, TSN Radio-690, 98.5 FM).

Montreal, which has already won once on the road, must win at least once more in the Sunshine State. And should that not happen on Wednesday, the Canadiens will be facing elimination Friday night at the Bell Centre.

Canadiens’ Juraj Slafkovsky absorbs heavy hit from Tampa Bay Lightning’s Max Crozier during the second period of Game 4 at the Bell Centre on Sunday. John Mahoney / Montreal Gazette

“I think we’re competing,” St. Louis said. “We’re engaged. We’re in a battle. Everybody’s competing.”

Slafkovsky didn’t practise on Tuesday. Nor did forward Josh Anderson and defenceman Mike Matheson. But all three are expected to play. Matheson reportedly skated before the session with injured defenceman Noah Dobson, who has yet to play in the series after blocking a shot with his hand.

And while St. Louis justifiably believes all his players are competing, goals have come at a premium — 11 for both teams through four games — and several players relied on for their offensive production have been conspicuous by their absence.

Cole Caufield, who scored 51 goals during the regular season, finally ended his slump with a goal on Sunday. But Alex Newhook, Ivan Demidov and Oliver Kapanen — the entire second line — have yet to beat goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy.

Slafkovsky, Anderson and defenceman Lane Hutson have combined to score seven of the Canadiens’ 11 goals, although Slafkovsky has been silent since his three-goal performance in the series opener.

“Tough series,” Demidov said. “I wish I could score more goals. I’m just hoping we can score more and win games. They have a pretty good goalie. It’s pretty hard to score on him. I wish we could just change something, but I don’t exactly know what.”

The Canadiens’ top line of Caufield, Slafkovsky and Nick Suzuki has yet to score an even-strength goal.

“I thought we’ve been pretty good, honestly, this whole series five-on-five,” said forward Jake Evans, who is not relied on for offence. “This series has been quite the emotional roller-coaster. A lot more penalties than either team wants or expects. There’s a balance we need to find and a higher level of execution we could probably get to. Just one small mistake … could cost you a game.”

Meanwhile, while defenceman Jayden Struble acknowledged Crozier’s hit was big, he believes there were other factors that contributed to the Canadiens’ defeat. Struble, for starters, lost his check on the Guentzel goal.

“Definitely, we could have done a better job when we were up two, closing out the game, obviously,” he said. “But I’m not too worried. We’re going to regroup and have a good one (in Game 5). If there’s a clean hit to be made, I’m definitely going to take it.”

Neither team has lost consecutive games in this series. And now, it’s up to the Canadiens to hold serve and steal another game on the road, or they’ll have to win two straight to prolong their season.

“It was our first loss that hurts,” Struble added. “We felt like we had that one. You just kind of have to move on.

“It (Game 5) obviously is the biggest game of the year.”

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