"We've been able to create some chemistry together and guys have fit right in, big guys that can skate and move the puck," Hedman said. "It fits right in with the way we want to play hockey. It helps with the forwards we have and obviously 'Vasy' stopping the puck, but for us it's all about trying to get up in the play as much as we can and defend hard. You know, do what we're good at."
So much was made about the Canadiens' top four defensemen going into the Cup Final. Shea Weber, Ben Chiarot, Jeff Petry and Joel Edmundson have been a big key to their success this postseason along with goalie Carey Price, playing physical, aggressive hockey.
But it's the Lightning's big six on defense that have already made a bigger impact than Montreal's four in the Cup Final, playing the same way.
The Canadiens scored one goal on 19 shots in Game 1 in part because they couldn't get to the front of the net with Hedman, Rutta, McDonagh, Cernak, Sergachev and David Savard blocking the path.
McDonagh is the shortest player in the group at 6-foot-1. Rutta is the lightest at 204 pounds.
"We've got some size," Cooper said. "They're gamers. None of them shy away, so being on the inside is not foreign to them. When you have that, big and heavy, it helps us in the trenches."
The Lightning also scored five goals on 27 shots largely because the same group of defensemen also activated offensively. Cernak scored his first NHL playoff goal because he jumped into the rush and redirected a pass from forward Ondrej Palat over Price's glove and into the top right corner for a 1-0 lead at 6:19 of the first period.
"He's probably not known for his offense but at the end of the day that's the way we want to play," Hedman said. "He looked like a power forward driving the net, an unbelievable tip."
Cernak also had a shot ring off the crossbar at 16:19 of the second period. Sergachev had an assist on forward Nikita Kucherov's first goal that made it 3-1 Lightning two minutes into the third period.
"That's a part of our system," McDonagh said. "That's what we're told to do as far as our responsibility on the ice, being a part of the breakout coming out of our zone, being an option in the offensive zone for our forwards when they get their cycle going. The onus is on us to get pucks past their shot blockers down to the net and not turn pucks over and feed any kind of transition."
The Lightning do it with limited risk in their game and never at the expense of defending, two of the main differences in them from two years ago and easily two of the biggest reasons why they've become a championship team.
"We trust one another," Hedman said. "We have full confidence in the 'D' corps playing against any line."
