{"id":616087,"date":"2026-04-20T07:48:12","date_gmt":"2026-04-20T07:48:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/616087\/"},"modified":"2026-04-20T07:48:12","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T07:48:12","slug":"canadiens-draw-first-blood-in-playoff-series-vs-lightning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/616087\/","title":{"rendered":"Canadiens draw first blood in playoff series vs. Lightning"},"content":{"rendered":"

Somewhere, we\u2019re wondering what Shane Wright must be thinking.<\/p>\n

When the Canadiens selected Juraj Slafkovsky first overall in 2022<\/a>, the move was met with widespread criticism and skepticism in Montreal \u2014 by both the media and fans \u2014\u00a0who expected the organization to select Wright.<\/p>\n

Seems like general manager Kent Hughes knew what he was doing.<\/p>\n

\"MontrealMontreal Canadiens left wing Juraj Slafkovsky scores the game-winning goal in overtime on Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy during Game 1 of the first round in the Stanley Cup playoffs on Sunday, April 19, 2026 in Tampa. Luis Santana \/ Tampa Bay Times<\/p>\n

Slafkovsky scored 30 goals this season for the first time in his career. And he became an instant playoff hero Sunday night by scoring three power-play goals \u2014\u00a0the last at 1:22 of overtime \u2014\u00a0to propel the Canadiens to a 4-3 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning at Benchmark International Arena in the opening game of their first-round playoff series.<\/p>\n

Slafkovsky became the first Canadiens player in franchise history with three power-play goals in a playoff game.<\/p>\n

Wright, who went fourth overall to Seattle, scored a pedestrian 12 goals and 15 assists in 74 games this season. Oh yeah, the Kraken also missed the playoffs.<\/p>\n

\"MontrealMontreal Canadiens left wing Juraj Slafkovsky (20) celebrates his goal on Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy during the second period in Game 1 of Round 1 of the Stanley Cup playoffs on Sunday, April 19, 2026 in Tampa. Luis Santana \/ Tampa Bay Times<\/p>\n

News you need (Part I): Slafkovsky became the first Montreal player to score three goals \u2013 including one in overtime \u2013\u00a0in a playoff game since Eric Desjardins in 1993. Desjardins\u2019s power-play goal 51 seconds into overtime carried the Canadiens to a 3-2 victory over Los Angeles in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup final, evening the series. It was the first hat trick by a defenceman in a Cup final.<\/p>\n

News you need (Part II): When winning the first game of a playoff series, the Canadiens are 64-11 in franchise history.<\/p>\n

Strange, but true: The Lightning now has a 1-12 record in its last 13 overtime games. And it has lost seven straight.<\/p>\n

Random thought of the night: Only 15 more wins and the Canadiens are Cup champions.<\/p>\n

\"HabsTampa Bay Lightning centre Jake Guentzel high-sticks Montreal Canadiens defenceman Kaiden Guhle while trying to get the puck late in the third period during Game 1 of Round 1 of the Stanley Cup playoffs on Sunday, April 19, 2026 in Tampa. Luis Santana \/ Tampa Bay Times<\/p>\n

Dumb penalty (Part I): While Jake Guentzel contributed three assists, it was his high-sticking infraction against Kaiden Guhle<\/a> in the final seconds of regulation time that put the Canadiens on the power play. We\u2019re assuming Guentzel feels shame. If you don\u2019t understand, watch the legendary 1977 movie Slap Shot<\/a>. And be prepared to laugh.<\/p>\n

Dumb penalty (Part II): Nikita Kucherov\u2019s high stick on Alexandre Carrier in the opening seconds of the second period. It squandered 69 seconds of a Tampa Bay power play.<\/p>\n

Hit of the night: Josh Anderson flattened Charle-Edouard D\u2019Astous from behind in the second period while the Rimouski native was also being hit from in front by Jake Evans. In Gary Bettman\u2019s NHL, this resulted in a charging penalty.<\/p>\n

Sieve of the night: Andrei Vasilevskiy faced only 19 shots. He was also beaten on the third, eighth and 14th shots he faced. His save percentage was .789. Vasilevskiy faced only four shots in the first period \u2014\u00a0and none until Lane Hutson\u2019s effort in the ninth minute. The second period saw him tested once over the opening 18 minutes. Perhaps he required more caffeine before the game?<\/p>\n

\"TampaTampa Bay Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy reacts after Montreal Canadiens left wing Juraj Slafkovsky\u2019s puck gets in the net during the third period of Game 1 of Round 1 of the Stanley Cup playoffs on Sunday, April 19, 2026 in Tampa. Luis Santana \/ Tampa Bay Times<\/p>\n

Now we understand: Starting with the 2023 playoffs, Vasilevskiy has lost 13 of 17 games. Prior to Sunday\u2019s contest, his average was 3.37. His save percentage was .882. One word comes to mind:\u00a0choke.<\/p>\n

Pass of the night: Carrier, from behind the net, to Anderson on the Canadiens\u2019 opening goal.<\/p>\n

He could have written the Final Jeopardy! answer in a similar time frame: Jakub Dobes<\/a> made numerous big stops for the Canadiens. But the rookie goalie also allowed two second-period Tampa Bay goals in a span of 29 seconds. His save percentage was .870.<\/p>\n

Speed kills: Darren Raddysh scored the Lightning\u2019s opening goal, on the power play, with a blast from the left-wing circle. The shot was measured at 154 km\/h.<\/p>\n

\"TampaTampa Bay Lightning centre Brayden Point celebrates a goal scored by teammate Darren Raddysh as Montreal Canadiens defenceman Alexandre Carrier (45), goaltender Jakub Dobes and centre Jake Evans look on during the second period in Game 1 of the first round of the NHL playoffs at Benchmark International Arena on Sunday, April 19, 2026 in Tampa. Dirk Shadd \/ Tampa Bay Times<\/p>\n

Sometimes it\u2019s just not meant to be: In the 12th minute of the second period, Brandon Hagel\u2019s shot hit the post, then deflected off the crossbar. Nonetheless, he paced the Lightning, with two goals.<\/p>\n

Best goal scored on one knee: Slafkovsky\u2019s first, on the power play, in the second period.<\/p>\n

Late goals kill: The goal came with 24 seconds remaining in the period. The Canadiens then regained the lead almost six minutes into the third period.<\/p>\n

Dumb penalty (Part III): Zachary Bolduc\u2019s slash on J.J. Moser in the offensive zone in the third period led to the Lightning\u2019s tying goal.<\/p>\n

Give the guy a compass, or at least a road map: Dobes skated to the wrong end to begin the overtime period.<\/p>\n

\"MontrealMontreal Canadiens head coach Martin St. Louis talks with his team as he calls his timeout while on the power play against the Tampa Bay Lightning during overtime in Game 1 of the first round of the NHL playoffs at Benchmark International Arena on Sunday, April 19, 2026 in Tampa. Dirk Shadd \/ Tampa Bay Times<\/p>\n

Best timeout of the night: It was called by Canadiens head coach Martin St. Louis before Slafkovsky\u2019s winner.<\/p>\n

Quick stats: Along with his three goals, Slafkovsky had seven shots and two hits while playing 21:11. Anderson, Alex Newhook and Alexandre Texier each had four hits. Arber Xhekaj had five hits despite playing only 10:59. Mike Matheson blocked six shots and had four hits. Guhle and Carrier each had three hits. Hutson played a mind-boggling 29 minutes, but was guilty of four giveaways. The Canadiens won 61 per cent of their faceoffs and were slightly outhit, 44-42.<\/p>\n

\"TampaTampa Bay Lightning left wing Brandon Hagel (38), defenceman Erik Cernak (81) and goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy look on as Montreal Canadiens left wing Juraj Slafkovsky (20) and Canadiens right wing Cole Caufield celebrate Slafkovsky\u2019s game-winning goal in Game 1 of the first round of the NHL playoffs at Benchmark International Arena on Sunday, April 19, 2026 in Tampa. Dirk Shadd \/ Tampa Bay Times<\/p>\n

They said it: \u201cI kind of saw an open space there,\u201d Slafkovsky said in Tampa, describing the winning goal. \u201cI just had to shoot it. Thankfully, it went in. We\u2019re all happy. It\u2019s pretty nice. I like that feeling. Obviously we don\u2019t want to go to overtime. Hopefully we can close out games before that. I\u2019m happy the way it happened.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought (Anderson) was ready to go, right from the start,\u201d Nick Suzuki said. \u201cHis style of play, his energy and speed and physicality is perfect for playoff hockey. He started us off with a big goal and big hits. He had a big night for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201c(Slafkovsky) probably won us the game today,\u201d Dobes said. \u201cHe has been so good for us. In the big moments, he wants the puck. He\u2019s a big-time player. I\u2019m really proud of him.<\/p>\n

\u201cDefinitely the two (quick) goals can happen,\u201d he added. \u201cThat\u2019s the one part I need to be better (at).\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a power forward, a big guy and it\u2019s hard to stop him,\u201d Anderson said of Slafkovsky. \u201cYou think (Suzuki and Cole Caufield) make him better, but I think he makes them better, too. Obviously he\u2019s a huge-time player for us. He\u2019s got a lot of confidence and swagger. I loved his game.\u201d<\/p>\n

hzurkowsky@postmedia.com<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\tEditor\u2019s Picks\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Somewhere, we\u2019re wondering what Shane Wright must be thinking. When the Canadiens selected Juraj Slafkovsky first overall in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":616088,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194292],"tags":[49,48,2338],"class_list":["post-616087","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-montreal","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-montreal"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/616087","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=616087"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/616087\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/616088"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=616087"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=616087"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=616087"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}