The Lightning had a big possession advantage in the first period. They outshot the Canadiens, 13-4, and held Montreal to just eight total shot attempts. Carey Price was sharp in stopping all 13 of those Lightning shots. He made two tough saves on Nikita Kucherov during an early Lightning power play and later in the frame during a Montreal man advantage, he recorded stops on Barclay Goodrow (once) and Blake Coleman (twice). Before the period ended, Tyler Johnson put a shot off the crossbar. At the other end of the ice, Vasilevskiy's toughest save came off a Shea Weber point shot that deflected off the skate of Brayden Point - he turned it aside with his right pad.
The Lightning had that strong penalty kill in the first - one in which they posted the three shorthanded shots. They delivered another excellent kill early in the second, again holding Montreal without a shot. Just before the halfway point of the period, the Canadiens received their third and final power play chance of the game. Once more, the Lightning's PK came through, although Montreal did apply some pressure during the latter part of the man advantage. Once the power play ended, the Canadiens strung together successive shifts in which they pressed the attack. But the Lightning withstood the Montreal surge and tilted the ice back in their favor when the line of Anthony Cirelli, Steven Stamkos, and Ross Colton came on the ice with about seven and a half minutes left in the period. They moved the puck into the offensive zone and worked to keep possession. Eventually, the puck came to the boards near the left point, where six players (three on each side) battled to control it. The Lightning won the battle and the puck came to Ryan McDonagh at the left point. With so many Montreal players flooded to one side of the ice, David Savard had room to take a pass from McDonagh and skate to the right circle. At the same time, Colton charged from the boards to the front of the net and outmuscled Joel Edmundson to establish position at the top of the crease. Savard put the puck onto Colton's blade and Colton redirected it into the net.
The Canadiens posted 10 second period shots, but only one came after Colton's goal at 13:27. Vasilevskiy stopped a tip from Artturi Lehkonen with 45 seconds left in the frame to preserve the lead.
In the third, the Lightning continued to play a tight, structured, defensive game. They consistently and efficiently got pucks out of their own end and deep into the Montreal zone. The blocked several shots. They did allow one dangerous chance to Josh Anderson, who got loose on a partial breakaway, but Vasilevskiy made the save. Other than that, however, the Lightning effectively limited Montreal's looks. Price made 11 third period saves, including a highlight reel right pad stop on Ondrej Palat at 2:27. So the Lightning never did extend the lead. But it turned out that they didn't need to. The Habs made one final push after pulling Price for the extra attacker - they registered three shots on goal during the sixth-attacker situation in the final minute. But Vasilevskiy stopped them all. In the last 20 seconds, McDonagh protected the puck along the end boards to kill some time and then, after the puck slid to the front of the net, Yanni Gourde cleared it. Moments later, Lightning players rushed onto the ice in jubilation, celebrating their Stanley Cup triumph.
Congratulations to the Lightning for this amazing accomplishment! (I'll have one last series recap coming in the next couple of days).
Lightning Radio Three Stars of the Game (as selected by Phil Esposito):
1. Barclay Goodrow - Lightning.
2. Andrei Vasilevskiy - Lightning. 22-save shutout.
3. Ryan McDonagh - Lightning. Assist.
