Joshua Clipperton
Tampa Bay Lightning s Anthony Cirelli (71) celebrates a goal against Montreal Canadiens goaltender Carey Price (31) as Shea Weber (6) and Ben Chiarot (8) look on during the first period in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup finals in Montreal on Friday, July 2, 2021.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz July 02, 2021 - 11:13 PM
MONTREAL - The Canadiens dream of hoisting the Stanley Cup a 25th time to close out an improbable playoff run in a season like no other is on life support.
And the Tampa Bay Lightning are now one victory from sipping out of hockey s holy grail for the second time in just over nine months.
MONTREAL The Montreal Canadiens dream of hoisting the Stanley Cup for a 25th time to close out an improbable playoff run in a season like no other is on life support. And the Tampa Bay Lightning are now one victory from sipping out of hockey s holy grail for the second time in just over 10 months. Tyler Johnson scored twice, Nikita Kucherov and Victor Hedman had a goal and an assist each, and Tampa defeated Montreal 6-3 on Friday to take a 3-0 stranglehold in the final. Jan Rutta and Blake Coleman, into and empty net, also scored, while Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 32 shots. Ondrej Palat added two assists. After missing the entire regular season because of hip surgery, Kucherov s two points gives him a league-best 32 in these playoffs.
Tyler Johnson scored twice, Nikita Kucherov and Victor Hedman had a goal and an assist each, and Tampa defeated Montreal 6-3 on Friday to grab a 3-0 stranglehold in the final. Put ourselves in a hole early, said Canadiens captain Shea Weber, whose team was down 2-0 before the game was 3 1/2 minutes old. It s tough to dig yourself out of a hole against a team that plays pretty stingy.
Jan Rutta and Blake Coleman, into and empty net, also scored for the Lightning, while Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 32 shots. Ondrej Palat added two assists. After missing the entire regular season because of hip surgery, Kucherov s two points gives him a league-best 32 in these playoffs.