Reddevil45

Johannesburg • South Africa • 15 Years Old • Male

Montreal Canadiens against TB Lightning: Series Prediction

The Montreal Canadiens face the Tampa Bay Lightning in the second round. The last time these two met was in last year’s Stanley Cup 1st round where The Canadiens swept the Lightning. When they met Ben Bishop missed the series due to a dislocated elbow, which proved to be one of the main reasons for them getting swept. Bishop didn’t play at his best in the 1st six games of their 1st round matchup against the Detroit Red Wings but managed to keep a shutout in game 7 to send the Lightning past the Red Wings. Care Price did the same thing in the Canadiens series clinching game by showing his Vezina calibre play which was lacking in game 5.Steven Stamkos remained scoreless in the series against the Red Wings but Tyler Johnson made up for it by scoring 6 goals. The Canadiens weren’t as successful in terms of scoring with Max Pacioretty and Dale Wiese scoring just two goals each. In only 1 game that the Canadiens won Price had a save percentage below .930. The Canadiens will look to have more scoring in the series against the Lightning to take the pressure off Price.

The series will be much closely contested this season than last time. Steven Stamkos will be able to score his first goal of the playoffs but the Canadiens will still be able to take game 1 thanks to Price. The Lightning will be able to even up the series at 1 with their 2nd line taking over the game. With the Lightning back at home they continue great home record form the regular season to win game 3 with great overall play from everyone. In game 4 Price will lead the Canadiens to the win to send the series to Montreal tied at two. Game 5 and 6 will be split with both teams winning on home ice thanks to their goaltenders. Game 7 in Montreal will produce a tightly close game but the Canadiens will be able to move on to the Conference Finals for the second year in a row.

Series: 4-3 Canadiens
Game 1: 3-2 Canadiens
Game 2:4-2 Lightning
Game 3: 5-1 Lightning
Game 4: 3-1 Canadiens
Game 5: 2-0 Canadiens
Game 6: 3-1 Lightning
Game 7: 4-3 Canadiens

All stats from NHL.com