{"id":634345,"date":"2026-04-27T15:42:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-27T15:42:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/634345\/"},"modified":"2026-04-27T15:42:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-27T15:42:11","slug":"call-of-the-wilde-montreal-canadiens-series-is-even-after-tampa-bay-lightning-comeback-victory-montreal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/634345\/","title":{"rendered":"Call of the Wilde: Montreal Canadiens\u2019 series is even after Tampa Bay Lightning comeback victory – Montreal"},"content":{"rendered":"

Game 3 was an absolute thriller,<\/a> but it wouldn\u2019t be a significant win if the Montreal Canadiens<\/a> couldn\u2019t consolidate their advantage in their first-round playoff series. The Tampa Bay Lightning knew they had to bring all that they had to not go down by two games.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The Canadiens responded with their own intensity. Game 4 on Sunday night was another outstanding, well-played playoff game. This one was decided on the flukiest of moments in Tampa\u2019s favour for a 3-2 win.<\/p>\n

Wilde Horses\u00a0<\/p>\n

One aspect of playoff hockey that comes to the fore over the regular season is the impact that a physical player can have over the course of a game and a series. It\u2019s the power of accumulation over time.<\/p>\n

The physicality of Montreal\u2019s Josh Anderson and Arber Xhekaj is making life miserable for the Lightning. For the defencemen, they are tired already of Anderson coming in as the first forechecker to deliver thunderous checks.<\/p>\n

Story continues below advertisement<\/p>\n

For the forwards, they are feeling the effects of Xhekaj destroying them when they try to get the puck in the corner of Jakub Dobes. It hurts a little the first time. It hurts a lot the 30th time. The value of these two players is so high compared with the regular season.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Click<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t1:13
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tHabs fever builds ahead of first home playoff game\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Head coach Paul Maurice of the Florida Panthers told his players at a timeout in a game that they were easily winning in the playoffs that he needed them to stop trying to score goals, but, instead, \u201cpound their D, so by the end of the series, they\u2019ve got nothing left.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\"Get<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tGet breaking National news<\/p>\n

Get breaking Canada news delivered to your inbox as it happens so you won’t miss a trending story.<\/p>\n

Anderson, Xhekaj and, to a lesser extent, Kaiden Guhle are trying their best to see that the older Lightning players have nothing left by the end of the series. It may not be the deciding factor when this is all done, but the Canadiens finishing checks every time indicates they understand playoff hockey.<\/p>\n

Story continues below advertisement<\/p>\n

After a first period of establishing physical force, the goals started in the second. The passing was exquisite on the Canadiens\u2019 first goal: Guhle to Alexandre Texier, who found a streaking Zachary Bolduc. The so-called fourth line came through again as Bolduc\u2019s shot hit Andrei Vasilevskiy, then pinballed off Bolduc into the net.<\/p>\n

The second goal was classic Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield reading each other beautifully. On the power play, Caufield was behind the net, but saw that he could be an option for Suzuki if he slid in front of the net back door. Suzuki connected for Caufield\u2019s first of the playoffs.<\/p>\n

Lane Hutson got an assist on the power-play marker. Hutson has nine points in nine playoff games. He rarely makes any mistakes defensively. He can move the game to the pace that his team needs seemingly at will. He is a remarkable hockey player.<\/p>\n

Wilde Goats\u00a0<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no one to blame for it, but the game did turn in Tampa\u2019s favour on a massive hit from Max Crozier at mid-ice on Juraj Slafkovsky. It was reminiscent of when Lars Eller got totalled in the playoffs against the Ottawa Senators<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The difference, though, was that Eller was concussed and remained on the ice for 10 minutes, while Slafkovsky got back up quickly. Slafkovsky showed no concussive symptoms at all. However, he did hurt some part of his midsection that he grabbed.<\/p>\n

Story continues below advertisement<\/p>\n

Slafkovsky went to the dressing room to be tended to. It was the second Canadiens player to receive treatment in the period. Anderson also had to leave the game briefly after getting his ankle caught under a Tampa player following a big hit.<\/p>\n

The playoffs are a physical grind. The bodies are flying and often the goal is to eliminate your opponent from the game. All the Canadiens are still around, but, no doubt, Anderson and Slafkovsky won\u2019t be at any optional skate in the next days.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tMore on Sports
\n\t\t\tMore videos\n\t\t<\/p>\n

The Canadiens did an outstanding job killing a five-on-three power play for Tampa Bay, only to have the Lightning score the winning goal late on a lucky moment. Nikita Kucherov just fired it at the goal in a hopeful manner. It hit Brandon Hagel in front of the net. He was unaware that a shot had even been taken.<\/p>\n

This is the chaos of hockey. It is such an unpredictable sport in that way. The series is even at two wins each. It\u2019s a best-of-three with the Lightning holding home-ice advantage for Wednesday\u2019s fifth game.<\/p>\n

Wilde Cards<\/p>\n

The organization still has other plot lines developing this season besides the one with the parent team. The Laval Rocket are still waiting to start their playoffs, as they had a first-round bye due to finishing first in the North Division of the American Hockey League.<\/p>\n

Story continues below advertisement<\/p>\n

The Rocket found out their opponent late Sunday as the Rochester Americans and Toronto Marlies played their final game in the best-of-three opening round. The Marlies won 4-2 in the final contest. The Rocket have had a difficult time against the Marlies this season. Their first round will not be easy. The Marlies have won their last four meetings.<\/p>\n

The Rocket will start at home in the best-of-five on Wednesday night with Game 2 on Friday night.<\/p>\n

There is only one other significant name playing and that is Bryce Pickford, who will join the Rocket when his playoffs conclude in the Western Hockey League. His Medicine Hat Tigers are in a battle in the East Conference final with the Prince Albert Raiders.<\/p>\n

The two clubs were separated by only two points this season atop the conference. The first two were played in Saskatchewan, and the games were polar opposites. The Raiders won the first game 8-3, looking dominant, then the Tigers responded with a 5-0 shutout, looking even more dominant.<\/p>\n

Pickford has 11 points in 11 games for the Tigers on a team-leading six goals. Pickford is also plus-13, which is close to the top number in the playoffs. It will be fascinating to watch Pickford in the AHL playoffs this season, but he has to arrive first.<\/p>\n

The Tigers\u2019 run has to end before the Rocket finish theirs. The timing should work out unless the Tigers go all the way to winning the WHL to attend the Memorial Cup.<\/p>\n

Story continues below advertisement<\/p>\n

Brian Wilde, a Montreal-based sports writer, brings you\u00a0\u00a0on after each Canadiens game.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t&copy 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Game 3 was an absolute thriller, but it wouldn\u2019t be a significant win if the Montreal Canadiens couldn\u2019t…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":634346,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[556],"tags":[64,63,161740,5790,575,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-634345","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nhl","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-call-of-the-wilde","11":"tag-montreal-canadiens","12":"tag-nhl","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/634345","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=634345"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/634345\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/634346"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=634345"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=634345"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=634345"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}