A do or die game for the Montreal Canadiens left them with all grins and high fives as they defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-1 in game 5 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. It's a battle to the Eastern Conference Finals between these two teams. But, who wants it more?
A nitty-gritty game 5 saw Montreal Canadiens get on the board first. Devante Smith-Pelly scores his first goal of the 2015 playoffs as he shoots a rocket launcher from the point that bounces in and out of the net past Lightning goaltender Ben Bishop. Upon further review, of course, the goal stood, and the Canadiens had a 1-0 lead.
Tampa Bay had plenty of opportunities, but couldn't find any openings. Carey Price made what was probably the save of the game in the first period after stopping a hard shot from close range. Now, this team meant business; And business they meant.
The second period was nothing short of high intensity, and bone picking with one another. Now, if people have watched at least some of the playoffs this year, you can see that there isn't a lot of fighting going on. The league has pretty much banned it. But these two teams didn't care as much of the second period was all face grabbing, jersey ripping, and shoving. Tampa Bay refused to go down without a fight. No goals were scored, but there were some penalties.
The third period saw all the action unfold. Once again, a high pressure period turned out to be the difference maker in this game. Steven Stamkos scored his second goal of the playoffs, diving and shooting in a loose puck that bounced off the pad of Price, to knot the score at 1-1. As the game neared the end, and what thought Stamkos' goal could be the one to lead us into overtime, yet again, Pierre-Alexandre Parenteau wristed home a shot past Ben Bishop to lift the Canadiens to a 2-1 lead, that ended the game.
After the game, tempers aroused between both teams as, what was seen on tv, PK Subban seemed to have taken down Steven Stamkos as the time ran out. Of course, that didn't settle well with both teams and decided to take action. The result? A ripped Tyler Johnson jersey on the left sleeve.
What does this mean for Tampa Bay? This game means that they need to rebound, and get a win to capture the series in front of their home crowd at the Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida. A game 6 win will lift the pressure off of their backs and they will face either the Washington Capitals or the New York Rangers in the Eastern Conference Finals.
What does this mean for Montreal? This huge win gives them two wins for the series, but they are still down for the count so far. A win in game six to force a game seven will be ecstatic for the natives of Montreal. A franchise with much history in the playoffs can not been ending early yet, they pray. They must win.