{"id":640701,"date":"2026-04-30T14:18:15","date_gmt":"2026-04-30T14:18:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/640701\/"},"modified":"2026-04-30T14:18:15","modified_gmt":"2026-04-30T14:18:15","slug":"montreal-canadiens-brendan-gallagher-goes-from-press-box-to-blue-paint-in-game-5-win-thats-gally","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/640701\/","title":{"rendered":"Montreal Canadiens’ Brendan Gallagher goes from press box to blue paint in Game 5 win: ‘That’s Gally’"},"content":{"rendered":"

TAMPA \u2014 Brendan Gallagher<\/a> stepped out of the press box and went straight back to his office.<\/p>\n

The blue paint.<\/p>\n

In his first shift of the playoffs, the veteran winger crashed the crease and opened the scoring, sparking the Montreal Canadiens<\/a> to a 3-2 win \u2014 and 3-2 series lead \u2014 over the Tampa Bay Lightning<\/a> in Game 5 on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s where you go,\u201d Gallagher said. \u201cEspecially this time of year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gallagher had spent four straight games as a healthy scratch, watching his teammates battle through a bitter first-round matchup where his grit and grind could have made a difference.<\/p>\n

Three minutes into Game 5, the 33-year-old forward pounced on a loose puck after Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy<\/a> denied Alex Newhook<\/a>\u2019s deke to the backhand, then raised his arms and pumped his fist as Montreal\u2019s bench erupted.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know where Gally\u2019s gonna go. He\u2019s gonna go right where he scored his goal,\u201d coach Martin St. Louis said. \u201cIt came time in the series where I felt like we probably needed a little more of that, and I know Gally is gonna give you that.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m really happy the way he\u2019s handled everything and not surprised about how he did tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n

St. Louis felt Gallagher, who entered the lineup in place of rookie forward Oliver Kapanen<\/a>, could give his team a jolt after a tough-to-swallow 3-2 loss in Game 4 at home.<\/p>\n

The Canadiens coach admitted it had been difficult to sit his longest-serving player, a heart-and-soul figure who wears an \u201cA\u201d on his sweater and has long dragged his teammates into the fight.<\/p>\n

Gallagher knew it was possible amid a frustrating season of just seven goals and 16 assists across 77 games, with ice time dropping to a career low 12:21. He was also healthy scratched in five games late in the regular season, sitting out for the first time since his rookie campaign in 2012-13.<\/p>\n

A culture-setter during the Canadiens\u2019 rebuild, Gallagher found himself pushed out of the lineup as a young, talented group evolved into a playoff contender. But he remained engaged, sharing his experience while waiting for his chance.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the same now as it was my first year in the league, you just take nothing for granted,\u201d he said. \u201cI know how good this group is and how deep they are, and so opportunities are going to be limited. Doesn\u2019t mean they\u2019re not going to come, you just got to be ready when they do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gallagher was ready Wednesday at Benchmark International Arena, the same building where he lost the Stanley Cup final five years ago.<\/p>\n

He played just 10 shifts and logged 6:48 of ice time, but made every second count, finishing with three hits to go with his goal. He boxed out Gage Goncalves<\/a> early in the first period, created a chance late in the second and set up Jake Evans<\/a> for a good look in the third.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s impressive and it just sums up his character,\u201d Evans said. \u201cHe was obviously frustrated that he wasn\u2019t in, and he showed that he\u2019s a playoff guy and those are the type of games he needs to be in.\u201d<\/p>\n

There was also an image Canadiens fans have seen countless times with 6:22 remaining in the second period. A helmetless Gallagher, with a cut beneath his eye, starting a net-front scrum.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s Brendan Gallagher<\/a> Hockey 101 right there,\u201d said forward Kirby Dach<\/a>. \u201cHe played a heck of a game for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a pretty easy bucket to knock off,\u201d added forward Josh Anderson<\/a> with a wide smile. \u201cThat\u2019s just Gally. Always being in the blue paint and you don\u2019t expect anything less.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gallagher described it simply as having fun.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I got some catching up to do. These guys have had some fun and been able to enjoy it,\u201d he said. \u201cYou grind all season to have this opportunity, you just want to enjoy it. You can\u2019t get lost in the importance of everything, you can\u2019t forget to have fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alexandre Texier<\/a> \u2014 with a third-period winner \u2014 and Dach also scored as the Canadiens held off a late push from the Lightning.<\/p>\n

The team will have a chance to close out the series in Game 6 on Friday in Montreal, where Gallagher should receive a raucous welcome from the home crowd.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe guys have been playing great hockey, it\u2019s been a fun series to watch,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd coming in, I just tried to follow their lead, find a way to contribute.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe group right now is really dialed in, playing some really solid hockey, and it\u2019s fun to be a part of.\u201d<\/p>\n

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 29, 2026.<\/p>\n

Daniel Rainbird, The Canadian Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TAMPA \u2014 Brendan Gallagher stepped out of the press box and went straight back to his office. The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":640702,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[556],"tags":[64,63,575,85],"class_list":["post-640701","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/640701","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=640701"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/640701\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/640702"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=640701"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=640701"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=640701"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}