𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

MONTREAL — Facing a 2-0 deficit in Game 4 and a potential 3-1 series deficit, the Tampa Bay Lightning received their turning point from the unlikeliest of players.

Max Crozier’s thunderous body check on Juraj Slafkovský in the second period ignited a Tampa comeback and led to three unanswered goals en route to a gritty, 3-2 win Sunday night to tie their series with Montreal 2-2.

Game 5 goes Wednesday night in Tampa.

Brandon Hagel, of course, had the tying and go-ahead goals, now giving him six goals in the series as he continues to be a central figure in this series. Jake Guentzel had a goal and an assist for Tampa.

Zack Bolduc and Cole Caufield, on the power play, had spotted Montreal a 2-0 lead as the Bell Centre absolutely rocked again in the anticipation and hope that perhaps their team might take a 3-1 lead over the favoured Lightning.

Not to be.

Deja vu with a huge hit in Game 4

One day short of a year ago, Washington Capitals forward Tom Wilson leveled Canadiens defenseman Alexandre Carrier with a massive open ice hit in the third period. The Capitals scored shortly after that hit and went on to win Game 4 to claim a 3-1 series lead.

This was not the exact same situation, but Lightning defenseman Max Crozier – inserted into the lineup for the first time this series – caught Canadiens forward Juraj Slafkovský with his head down at center ice and dropped him with a monster hit that left Slafkovský woozy and forced him to go directly to the dressing room. There was no penalty called on Crozier – some replays showed he might have caught Slafkovský in the head with his elbow pad – and Mike Matheson was called for slashing as the play continued.

Jake Guentzel scored on a four-on-four shortly after the Crozier hit to make it a 2-1 game, but the biggest difference between this hit and last year’s hit by Wilson is that Slafkovský returned for the third period. But it definitely shifted the momentum of the game, especially when Hagel tied the game on a power play early in the third period and scored the winner with a little under five minutes left in regulation.

Getting Point and Kucherov going

There’s been a lot of focus on Montreal’s top line and its offensive struggles at five on five in this series. But that holds true for some of Tampa Bay’s big offensive stars as well.
Nikita Kucharov had a huge tying goal in Game 2, but otherwise had looked frustrated in his ability to produce more offense.

Ditto for Brayden Point who scored one goal in his final 11 regular-season games and hasn’t connected yet at five on five in this series.

On Sunday night in Game 4, head coach Jon Cooper reunited Point and Kucherov, and put them with Brandon Hagel. The intent was obvious, Hagel now has six goals in the series after scoring twice, including the game-winner Sunday night.

And it sure worked when it mattered most: Kucherov’s shot re-directed by Hagel with 4:53 left in the third period, which stood up as the game-winner.

Cooper on Sunday morning hoped Point’s power-play goal from Game 3 will get him going.

“He’s got to get going, there’s no question,’’ Cooper said. “And he knows it. We’ve talked at length about it. He’s at best when he’s moving his feet and commanding the puck and skating with it. There were times last game where he was uncharacteristically giving it up at times a little early. But there was no question that (power-play) goal was a weight off his shoulders. I think the best of Brayden Point is yet to come and I think we’ll see it tonight.”

I think we’ll see it tonight. Was that Cooper really saying he’s putting the red-hot Hagel with Point so that should help? If so, Cooper was right.

Point’s knee injury which knocked him out of the Olympics can’t be discounted as a lingering factor. Still, Point’s 18 goals this year sure isn’t what he’s used to doing after a pair of 40-plus goal seasons and a 50-plus season.

But, just like 51-goal man Cole Caufield hasn’t connected yet five on five in this series through four games, it’s tight checking at playoff time and some of the stars are still finding their way.

Canadiens top line still pointless at even strength

Though Cole Caufield scored his first of the series on the power play in the second period, the Canadiens top line of Nick Suzuki, Caufield and Juraj Slafkovský still have not scored a goal at five-on-five in the series.

If anyone had told the Canadiens they would be tied 2-2 in the series with that being the case prior to the start of the playoffs, they probably would have taken it. But with the Lightning taking back home-ice advantage with this win and the series shifting back to Tampa, where Lightning coach Jon Cooper will have full control of the matchup, the task becomes that much more difficult for the Suzuki line.

Suzuki himself mentioned after Game 2 that his line will need to produce at five-on-five for the Canadiens to have a chance to win the series. Two games later, that remains the case.

Uniting the Selke Guys

One of the luxuries Tampa has its disposal is having two terrific defensive centers in Anthony Cirelli and Yanni Gourde. Both will get Selke Trophy votes this season.

Cooper decided Sunday night to put them on the same line along with Jake Guentzel. And Cooper tried all he could to get that line over the boards every time against Montreal’s top line centered by Nick Suzuki. Harder to do without last change but Tampa chased it hard with lots of changing on the fly to get it done.

And once again, Suzuki’s top line went scoreless five on five for a fourth straight game.

Guentzel, meanwhile, had a strong game, just missing a goal after rifling one off the post in the second period before tallying the team’s first goal late in the same period, a huge one. Guentzel has six points in the series (1-5).

Bolduc’s playoff lessons learned

The young Canadiens all learned some lessons in that Capitals series a year ago, but for Zack Bolduc, his playoff lessons were learned with the St. Louis Blues in an epic seven-game first-round loss to the Winnipeg Jets a year ago.

Bolduc learned a lot in that series, how important every shift is, how every mistake can be series-altering, but mainly, just how hard every action needs to be.

In the second period, after taking a stretch pass from Kaiden Guhle, Bolduc entered the Lightning zone one-on-one with Taylor Raddysh. Bolduc lowered his shoulder and powered the puck to the net. When Andrei Vasilevskiy tried to poke the puck away, Bolduc had moved so deep into the crease area that the puck went off him and into the net for his first career playoff goal.

He scored it using the lessons he learned a year ago, when he struggled as a rookie with the Blues, but it was just a continuation of how strong Bolduc has been all series after an up and down season with the Canadiens.

Hedman/Dobson updates

When top-4 defenseman Noah Dobson was injured, the Canadiens said he would be re-evaluated in two weeks and Sunday marked two weeks since that April 12 announcement. On Sunday, the Canadiens said there would be an update on Dobson in 48 hours. So we should know more on his status Tuesday, although of note he has resumed skating (not with the team yet).

Meanwhile, Victor Hedman skated yet again Sunday morning in the team’s optional practice. He left the team March 19 for personal reasons but returned a couple of weeks ago. He’s skated pretty much every day for well over a week now. But head coach Jon Cooper said Sunday the Lightning captain probably still wasn’t expected to play in the series. Although he emphasized the word “probably” so as to leave a slight possibility.