The Montreal Canadiens lost Game 6 on Friday night in overtime after three scoreless periods, and the series is now tied 3-3 heading back to Tampa. The Tampa Bay Lightning scored the winner in the extra session, leaving Montreal to regroup after a night that stayed locked until the end.
After the game, Nick Suzuki was asked what his message as captain was to his team, and he said to stay positive. Suzuki said he believed the Canadiens were the better team for most of the game, but simply did not score, adding that Andrei Vasilevskiy “kind of won them that game.”
The numbers backed up how tight it was. Tampa Bay held a 33-30 edge in shots through three periods, while Montreal won 51.1% of the faceoffs. That kind of margin leaves little room for error in a playoff game, and in this one neither side found a goal before overtime.
The bigger concern for Montreal is how little production it has gotten from its top line. Cole Caufield, a 50-plus goal scorer, Suzuki, a 100-plus point producer, and Juraj Slafkovsky, a 70-plus point producer, had combined for only one point in 5v5 situations against the Lightning in the series. Against a veteran group like Tampa Bay, that is a problem Montreal has to solve fast.
Suzuki’s comments may also have given the Lightning something to hold onto before Game 7. A veteran team does not need much to sharpen its edge, and hearing the opposing captain say his club was the better team for most of the game is the sort of thing that can travel with a series overnight.
The Canadiens now have one game left to turn effort into finishing. If their top players cannot break through at even strength, Tampa Bay will go into Game 7 with the clearer path.