John Kreiser
Juraj Slakovsky showed why Montreal picked him No. 1 overall in the 2022 NHL Draft, completing his first playoff hat trick by scoring a power-play goal 1:22 into overtime to give the Canadiens a 4-3 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning at Benchmark International Arena on Sunday in the opener of their Eastern Conference First Round series.
Tampa Bay’s Jake Guentzel took a high-sticking penalty with 21 seconds remaining in regulation, and Slafkovsky made him pay with his third power-play goal of the game. Lane Huston fed a pass to Slafkovsky as he went into the left circle, and the 22-year-old rifled the puck past goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy’s glove for the win.
It was not a terrific night for Vasilevskiy, a two-time Stanley Cup winner with the Bolts. He allowed four goals on 19 shots and rarely looked like the goaltender who excelled when the Bolts won the Cup in 2020 and 2021. Montreal rookie Jakub Dobes finished with 20 saves.
The Canadiens lead the series 1-0, with Game 2 set for Tuesday night in Tampa.
Slafkovsky’s first power-play goal tied the game late in the second period, and his second gave the Canadiens a brief 3-2 lead in the third. Josh Anderson opened the scoring with the only goal of the first period.
Brandon Hagel scored twice for Tampa Bay after defenseman Darren Raddysh had tied the game 1-1 early in the second period.
The Lightning had the game’s first good scoring chance when Erik Cernak found himself alone in the slot, but Dobes came well out of his net to cut down the angle and make the save.
The Canadiens misfired on a pair of 2-on-1 chances and failed to cash in on their first power play after the Lightning were called for too many men at 10:37. But they jumped in front 1-0 at 13:24 thanks to some nice work by their fourth line.
Alexandre Carrier worked the puck free behind the net and slipped a pass into the slot, where Anderson quickly snapped it into the net at 13:24 to put the Canadiens in front. Vasilevskiy appeared to lose track of the puck and the Lightning defense did the same with Anderson, one of the few Montreal players left from the Canadiens’ five-game loss to the Bolts in the 2021 Final.
Montreal spent most of the rest of the period killing penalties. Tampa Bay played 4:13 of the final 5:23 in the opening period with an extra man but didn’t generate much offense. The Canadiens left the ice with a one-goal lead despite being outshot 10-4.
Neither team generated much in the first half of the second period, but the Canadiens appeared to double their lead at 10:43 when Anderson reached out and deflect a point shot into the net. However, a video review showed Anderson’s stick was barely above the crossbar, and the goal was waved off.
Anderson was called for charging 12 seconds later, and the Lightning cashed in on their fifth power play to even the score. Raddysh tied it at 12:15 when he took a perfect feed from Nikita Kucherov and one-timed it past Dobes from inside the left circle at 12:15 to even the game 1-1.
The tie lasted just 29 seconds. The Canadiens misplayed the puck behind their own net, and Guentzel slipped a pass off a defender’s stick that came right to Hagel, whose quick backhander from just outside the blue paint beat Dobes at 12:49. In just over two minutes, the Canadiens went from an apparent 2-0 lead to an actual 2-1 deficit.
It looked like the period might end that way. Montreal managed just one shot on goal until Tampa Bay’s Conor Geekie took a needless high-sticking penalty with 1:28 remaining. Vasilevskiy made a couple of excellent saves, but he had no chance on Slafkovsky’s one-timer from inside the right circle that tied the game 2-2 at 19:36.
Each team scored another power-play goal before the third period reached the midway point. Slafkovsky got some room in the bumper position and converted a perfect pass by Cole Caufield at 5:56 to give Montreal a 3-2 lead. But Hagel tied it at 8:58 when he muscled his want to the front of the net and redirected Guentzel’s pass behind Dobes.
The game got to overtime tied 3-3 — but not before Guentzel took a high-sticking penalty at 19:39 when he tried to swat an airborne puck into the net but missed and hit Canadiens defenseman Kaiden Guhle in the face, leading to Slafkovsky’s OT winner.
Key takeaways after Canadiens top Lightning in OT to win Game 1
Slafkovsky’s next step
There were lots of eyes raised when the Canadiens made Slafkovsky the first player taken in 2022. He’s quickly erasing any questions about the choice.
Slafkovsky became the first Montreal player with a power-play goal in overtime since P.K. Subban did it in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Second Round against the Boston Bruins in 2014. It’s the first playoff hat trick by a Canadien since Rene Bourque had one against the New York Rangers in Game 5 of the 2014 Eastern Conference Final.
The hat trick follows a regular season that saw him set career highs with 30 goals and 73 points. He also led the Canadiens with 15 power-play goals, and the Canadiens were 22-3-1 when he scored a goal.st
Shaky night for Vasilevskiy
“Vasy” is a lock for the Hockey Hall of Fame when he calls it a career. He’s won the Stanley Cup twice, the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP (2021) and the Vezina Trophy as the NHL’s best goaltender (2018-19). He’s started 113 consecutive playoff games for the Lightning, and his 67 playoff wins are 12th all-time.
But Vasilevskiy wasn’t sharp on Sunday. The TNT studio crew noted it after Anderson’s first-period goal, and he wasn’t sharp for most of the night, failing to come up with the big save when the Lightning needed it most.
Vasilevskiy’s career goals-against average in the playoffs is 2.46 – but it’s been 3.22 or worse in each of the past three seasons, a big reason the Bolts haven’t gotten past the first round since reaching the Final in 2022. He needs to be a lot better if the Lightning hope to avoid a fourth straight early departure.
No home-ice advantage in OT for Lightning
The Lightning sell out the former Amalie Arena every night and have done so for every game since Covid restrictions ended. But playing at home isn’t any help when it comes to overtime in the playoffs.
Slafkovsky’s game-winner handed the Lightning their seventh straight overtime loss in the playoffs. Overall, they are 9-13 in their own building , as opposed to 14-8 when they are the visitor. Tampa Bay hasn’t won a playoff game in OT at home since defeating the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-3 on May 12, 2022.
