Stanley Cup Final Game 5 Live Blog: Canadiens vs. Lightning

The Stanley Cup Final is over and the Tampa Bay Lightning are again champions,
defeating the Montreal Canadiens 1-0 in Game 5
on Wednesday to win their second straight championship.
It was a memorable game at Amalie Arena in Tampa, and
NHL.com
Senior Director of Editorial Shawn P. Roarke was there to provide all the sights, sounds and action with our live blog.

Thanks for joining me for the live blog for Game 5 and throughout the series. It was a fantastic ride. Let's do it again next season. Enjoy the offseason!

10:50 p.m.

The Stanley Cup belongs to the Tampa Bay Lightning for the second straight season.
The
Lightning defeated the Montreal Canadiens 1-0 to win
the best-of-7 series in five games.
Rookie Ross Colton scored the goal and goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy made 22 saves.

It is the first back-to-back championship in the NHL since the Pittsburgh Penguins did it in 2016 and 2017.
The fans started chanting "We want the Cup" with 4:40 left and returned to it often down the stretch, alternating with "Let's go Bolts" chants. With 1:40 remaining, the party had reached a crescendo when "Jump Around" by House of Pain was played and it just continued to peak from there as the Lightning closed in on the third Stanley Cup championship in team history.
Vasilevskiy has a shutout in each of the past five clinching games for the Lightning. He did it to Dallas in Game 6 of the Final last year and shut out the Florida Panthers, Carolina Hurricanes and New York Islanders in the three series before this one this year.
Defenseman Ryan McDonagh was the first to greet Vasilevskiy to start a celebration that is going to last through the night and beyond.
Forward Barclay Goodrow blocked Tampa Bay's seventh shot of the game, laying out to absorb a heavy slapper from Montreal defenseman Shea Weber, who has one of the hardest shots in the League. Goodrow, who has been among Tampa Bay's best players in this series, needed to be pushed by two different teammates to get back to the bench after the block.
When the replay was shown at the next stoppage, Goodrow received a standing ovation. Goodrow returned to the game and made another huge block in the final minute.
The Lightning also kept breaking out the celebrities at stoppages during the final half of the period. Tampa Bay Buccaneers tight end O.J. Howard and Bret Michaels, the lead singer of the rock band Poison.

10:30 p.m.

We're 10 minutes away from the Lightning claiming the Stanley Cup! Midway through the third period, Tampa Bay still leads 1-0.
The first half of the period hasn't been without drama, though.
Andrei Vasilevskiy made a save at 3:22 when he denied Josh Anderson, the hero of Game 4, on a breakaway. Anderson crashed to the ice after the shot and slid back-first into the post. He stayed down for a couple of minutes before going back to the bench as the crowd cheered for him.
It was Montreal's only scoring chance in the first 10 minutes of the period.
Ondrej Palat had a grand chance to make it 2-0 for the Lightning on the first shift by the top line in the period, but his shot hit the toe of goalie Carey Price instead of finding the sliver of open net to the left of the goalie.
The crowd erupted during a stoppage early in the third period when musician Yung Gravy was shown on the big screen. An even bigger cheer erupted later in the period when Vita Vea, a defensive lineman for the Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers, was introduced to the crowd and shot-gunned a beer.
Titus O'Neil was also introduced during a stoppage, eliciting another roar. Maybe they are saving John Travolta, who was at Game 2, for when they really need a boost.

10:10 p.m.

The 2020-21 season could be over in 20 minutes. The Lightning lead 1-0 after two periods minutes and can win their second straight Stanley Cup championship if they can hold on.
The Canadiens will have to score at least two goals in the third period if they want to win in regulation. Montreal has yet to score two goals in any period of this series.
Now might be a good time to mention that goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy has registered a shutout in each of his past four clinching games, dating back to a 2-0 victory against the Dallas Stars in Game 6 of the 2020 Stanley Cup Final.
Vasilevskiy made two huge saves on forward Artturi Lehkonen among his 10 saves in the second period.
The Lightning are 16-3 all time in clinching games in which they score first.
One of the highlights of the intermission was the rousing ovation 100-year-old fan Nicole Greco received when she was shown on the video board.
Will she be among those in the sold-out crowd partying after the next 20 minutes of game action?
Let's find out now!

9:55 p.m.

The Lightning could be 20 minutes away from celebrating the Stanley Cup, leading 1-0 after two periods.
Tampa Bay is 15-2 (.882) in these playoffs in games it leads after two periods. Montreal has not won any of the seven games it has trailed in the postseason, including each of its three losses in the Final.
Plus, the Lightning will start the third period on the power play. Ben Chiarot took a holding penalty to stop a scoring chance by Brayden Point with 38 seconds remaining.
The fans sent the team off to a standing ovation.
Quieted to a degree as the game continued without a goal, the fans erupted when rookie Ross Colton scored at 13:27 with a working-man's goal if there ever was one.
The play started with the Lightning winning a four-man scrum for the puck along the boards. The puck came to defenseman Ryan McDonagh at the blueline, and he skated toward the middle of the rink, sent a pass to defenseman David Savard, who then slid it toward the net where it it found the stick of Colton, who had position on Joel Edmundson and directed it into the net.
Colton and Savard are the only two regulars in the Lightning lineup to not be on the roster when Tampa Bay won the Cup last season.
Though Montreal was better offensively in the second period, it has yet to generate sustained or significant pressure in the attacking zone. Shots are 18-14 for the Lightning.

9:42 p.m.

The dam has finally burst at Amalie Arena, Tampa Bay taking a 1-0 lead at 13:27 when forward Ross Colton got inside position on Montreal defenseman Joel Edmundson and directed home a pass by defenseman David Savard from the corner.
It was Colton's first goal of the Final and fourth of the playoffs.
The fans reacted with jubilation, as expected, breaking into its loudest "Let's Go Bolts" chant of the night.

9:35 p.m.

The score remains 0-0 midway through the second period, but Montreal has found its way back into the game, taking seven of the first 10 shots in the period and earning the only two power plays of the period to this point.
Defenseman Mikhail Sergachev was sent to the penalty box for tripping, stopping a scoring chance by the Canadiens at 8:32.
Defenseman David Savard took a delay of game penalty 39 seconds into the period
Tampa Bay did not get any shorthanded shots, but they also did not allow Montreal any shots. The Canadiens barely were able to set up in the offensive zone during the advantage, in fact, which got the crowd fired up once again.
Lightning forward Pat Maroon, who scored his first goal in 17 Final games in Game 4, had a great chance on a 2-on-1 at 4:22, but was denied by Price when Maroon slow-played the rush and tried to go five-hole. Anthony Cirelli couldn't push a bouncing puck into an open net about 90 seconds later in another Grade-A opportunity.

9:18 p.m.

As we enter the second period with the game tied 0-0, Montreal is right where it wants to be. The Canadiens are 11-4 this postseason when they don't allow a goal in the first period.
Plus goalie Carey Price has been crazy good in the first period, making several 10-bell saves among the 14 shots he stopped.
The Lightning have to be wondering how they can solve Price, who has stopped 46 of 48 shots since the start of Game 4.
The fans are wondering the same thing as the nervousness from the crowd was palpable after the first period. They came for a party and it has not started yet.
Let's see what the second period holds.

9:00 p.m.

The tension is building Inside Amalie Arena as the first period ends 0-0.
The Lightning dominated the period, outshooting the Canadiens 13-4 and playing for long stretches in the Montreal zone.
Though the Canadiens were dominated for long stretches of the period, trailing 11-2 in shots cat one point, they were not uncomfortable. After all, they were being outshot by a 11-1 margin to start Game 4, which they won 3-2 in overtime.
Lightning forward Tyler Johnson almost gave his team the lead at 14:39 when his wrist shot hit the crossbar. Johnson looked to the heavens as a groan from the crowd rippled through the arena. Mathieu Joseph set up the play with a brilliant pass. The injury replacement for Alex Killorn has been highly effective in each of his four games in this series.
By the way, Tampa Bay hit the post three times in the loss Monday.

8:40 p.m.

After a wild first 10 minutes it is 0-0 in Game 5.
Tampa Bay is outshooting Montreal 11-2.
Montreal forward Corey Perry took the first penalty of the game at 3:31, hooking forward Mathieu Joseph while he tried to split the defense in chasing down a dump-in. The Lightning had three shots on goal during the advantage but could not solve goalie Carey Price.
The Montreal penalty kill is heating up at the right time. It was 5-for-5 in Game 4, including killing a double minor to defenseman Shea Weber that bridged the third period and overtime. Tampa Bay is 2-for-12 on the power play in the series.
Defenseman Jan Rutta took Tampa Bay's first penalty at 7:19, a cross-checking infraction in the offensive zone. But instead of giving Montreal momentum, the Lightning had three glorious chances, two by Blake Coleman, to start the kill and then drew a hooking penalty on Josh Anderson at 8:43 to negate the rest of the power play.
Price became the third goalie in Montreal history since 1956 to make 600 saves in a single postseason when he made his seventh save of the game. Ken Dryden made 648 in 1971 and Patrick Roy made 601 in 1993.

8:20 p.m.

Things are already crazy here.
Fans started streaming in as soon as doors opened and were loud from the start, singing their way through songs like "Fight for Your Right" by the Beastie Boys and other arena-rock classics, banging their noise-making fans and paddles and roaring when the Lightning took the ice for warmups to "Numb Encore" by Linkin Park and Jay-Z.
The early verses seemed utterly appropriate for this night:
"Can I get an encore, do you want more
Cookin' raw with the Brooklyn boy
So for one last time I need y'all to roar
Uh, uh, uh, uh, yeah!
Now, what the hell are you waitin' for
After me, there shall be no more
So for one last time, make some noise"
Most of the fans in the building at the start of warmups stood throughout the 18-minute session, the excitement building as the clock counted down to 0:00 and the players left the ice.
Rappers Vo Williams, from nearby Sarasota, Florida, played after warmups, ripping through his song "Ready Set." Wrestler Titus O'Neil narrated a hype video before the player intros and the national anthems. Team legend Dave Andreychuk symbolically started the game by firing up the Tesla coil.
Though the sold-out arena was rocking harder than it has all postseason, hundreds of additional fans were taking in the game at Thunder Alley, the fan zone outside the arena. The weather turned out perfect for an outdoor-viewing party.
As expected, Lightning forward Alex Killorn was not part of the warmups. He will miss his fourth straight game with an unspecified injury sustained in Game 1 and each team went with the lineup it used in Game 4.
Here we go!

7 p.m.

For the second straight game, the Stanley Cup is in the building. If the Lightning win Game 5, they will become the first back-to-back champion since the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2016-17.
If Montreal can find a way to win, Game 6 will be Friday in Montreal.
The odds are long for Montreal for a variety of reasons. At the top of the list is the fact that the Lightning have not lost consecutive games in either of the past two postseasons, and goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy is 6-0 after a loss this postseason with three shutouts.
Tampa Bay has won eight of 12 home games this postseason and can tie the Lightning record for home wins in a single postseason, set in 2004. Plus, the Lightning are averaging 4.09 goals per game at home this postseason. Since Tampa Bay joined the NHL for the 1992-93 season, only one team has a higher per-game scoring average, the Colorado Avalanche, who averaged 4.36 goals per game in 1996. Finally, the Lightning are 14-6 (.700) all-time with the opportunity to clinch a series on home ice.
Montreal is looking to become the fourth team to win Games 4 and 5 after losing the first three. The 2012 New Jersey Devils, 1945 Detroit Red Wings and 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs are the others. The Devils lost in six games and the Red Wings in seven. The Maple Leafs won in seven games to become the only team in the history of the NHL, NBA and MLB to win a championship series after losing the first three games.
Here is a primer from the
NHL.com
staff to get you ready for Game 5:
-- The first goal could be the most important, senior writer Dan Rosen writes as part of his
3 Keys for Game 5
.
-- Having to win four straight games to take the Stanley Cup is the latest challenge for a Canadiens team that knows far too much about adversity,
writes staff writer Mike Zeisberger
.
-- The Lightning are on home ice with a chance to defend the title they won last season. To do so, the Tampa Bay players will have to call upon the lessons they learned last season in the bubble,
says staff writer Tom Gulitti
.
-- Who would be the MVP of the Lightning if they win the Cup? Coach Jon Cooper believes there are
several candidates, writes Gulitti
.