{"id":645971,"date":"2026-05-03T22:56:15","date_gmt":"2026-05-03T22:56:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/645971\/"},"modified":"2026-05-03T22:56:15","modified_gmt":"2026-05-03T22:56:15","slug":"montreal-canadiens-fans-pack-bell-centre-for-game-7-watch-party","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/645971\/","title":{"rendered":"Montreal Canadiens fans pack Bell Centre for Game 7 watch party"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Bell Centre is alive as the Montreal Canadiens take on the Tampa Bay Lightning in a decisive Game 7, with a spot in the second round on the line.<\/p>\n<p>Even though the action is unfolding in Tampa, thousands of fans have packed the Bell Centre for a full-scale watch party, turning Montreal\u2019s home arena into a roaring playoff gathering. Every shot, save, and whistle is met with loud reactions as the game plays out on the centre-hung scoreboard.<\/p>\n<p>Doors opened 90 minutes before puck drop, and fans quickly filled the building for what has become one of the biggest watch parties in recent memory. <\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Image-2026-05-03T161525.303.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-481696\"  \/>Montreal Canadiens fans pack the Bell Centre for a Game 7 watch party between the Habs and the Tampa Bay Lightning on May 3, 2026. (Adriana Gentile, CityNews)<\/p>\n<p>The first 8,000 in attendance received an official 2026 Canadiens playoff towel, waving them in unison.<\/p>\n<p>Around the concourse, select Canadiens alumni are meeting fans for photos, adding a historic touch to the night. Meanwhile, Youppi! and METAL! are working the crowd, keeping the energy high between periods and during every tense moment on the ice.<\/p>\n<p>With Montreal\u2019s season hanging in the balance, the Bell Centre feels every bit like a live playoff game \u2014 a shared home ice experience as the Canadiens fight the lightning for a chance to move on.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Image-2026-05-03T164430.908.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-481713\"  \/>Montreal Canadiens fans pack the Bell Centre for a Game 7 watch party between the Habs and the Tampa Bay Lightning on May 3, 2026. (Adriana Gentile, CityNews)<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Image-2026-05-03T164437.402-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-481711\"  \/>Montreal Canadiens fans pack the Bell Centre for a Game 7 watch party between the Habs and the Tampa Bay Lightning on May 3, 2026. (Adriana Gentile, CityNews)<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Image-2026-05-03T164434.723.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-481712\"  \/>Montreal Canadiens fans pack the Bell Centre for a Game 7 watch party between the Habs and the Tampa Bay Lightning on May 3, 2026. (Adriana Gentile, CityNews)<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Image-2026-05-03T163045.947.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-481698\"  \/>Montreal Canadiens fans pack the Bell Centre for a Game 7 watch party between the Habs and the Tampa Bay Lightning on May 3, 2026. (Adriana Gentile, CityNews)<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Image-2026-05-03T163544.401-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-481701\"  \/>Montreal Canadiens fans pack the Bell Centre for a Game 7 watch party between the Habs and the Tampa Bay Lightning on May 3, 2026. (Adriana Gentile, CityNews)<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Image-2026-05-03T163541.253-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-481702\"  \/>Montreal Canadiens fans pack the Bell Centre for a Game 7 watch party between the Habs and the Tampa Bay Lightning on May 3, 2026. (Adriana Gentile, CityNews)<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Image-2026-05-03T163537.802-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-481703\"  \/>Montreal Canadiens fans pack the Bell Centre for a Game 7 watch party between the Habs and the Tampa Bay Lightning on May 3, 2026. (Adriana Gentile, CityNews)<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Image-2026-05-03T164931.626.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-481715\"  \/>Montreal Canadiens fans pack the Bell Centre for a Game 7 watch party between the Habs and the Tampa Bay Lightning on May 3, 2026. (Adriana Gentile, CityNews)<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Image-2026-05-03T163534.952-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-481704\"  \/>Montreal Canadiens fans pack the Bell Centre for a Game 7 watch party between the Habs and the Tampa Bay Lightning on May 3, 2026. (Adriana Gentile, CityNews)<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Image-2026-05-03T163531.238.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-481705\"  \/>Montreal Canadiens fans pack the Bell Centre for a Game 7 watch party between the Habs and the Tampa Bay Lightning on May 3, 2026. (Adriana Gentile, CityNews)<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Image-2026-05-03T163919.236.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-481706\"  \/>Montreal Canadiens fans pack the Bell Centre for a Game 7 watch party between the Habs and the Tampa Bay Lightning on May 3, 2026. (Adriana Gentile, CityNews)<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Image-2026-05-03T164646.768.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-481714\"  \/>Montreal Canadiens fans pack the Bell Centre for a Game 7 watch party between the Habs and the Tampa Bay Lightning on May 3, 2026. (Adriana Gentile, CityNews)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Bell Centre is alive as the Montreal Canadiens take on the Tampa Bay Lightning in a decisive&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":645972,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194292],"tags":[49,48,2338],"class_list":["post-645971","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\/645971","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=645971"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/645971\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/645972"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=645971"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=645971"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=645971"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}