Following each game of the Lightning-Canadiens series, Eric Engels will be providing his post-game takeaways for sportsnet.ca. Follow him on Twitter @EricEngels
Here’s everything you need to know after Game 5 between the Montreal Canadiens and Tampa Bay Lightning.
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First Smith-Pelly…
Coming into Game 5, three Montreal Canadiens forwards had yet to record a goal in these playoffs.
Pierre-Alexandre Parenteau, Devante Smith-Pelly and Jacob De La Rose. For two of them, their timing was impeccable.
Smith-Pelly scored the first goal of the game, taking a pass from Torrey Mitchell and launching what Lightning coach Jon Cooper referred to as a “perfect shot” under the crossbar on the short side.
“For sure, that was one of the biggest goals of my career,” Smith-Pelly said. “I scored some goals in the playoffs last year in Anaheim and it gets pretty loud over there, but after I scored tonight I couldn’t even hear myself think. To see the reaction, that was definitely one of the best feelings of my life.”
Canadiens coach Michel Therrien said that Smith-Pelly set the game’s tone with his physical play. He had five hits in 9:54 and delivered a huge one on Victor Hedman on the shift after he opened the scoring.
“I thought (Smith-Pelly) was our best player today,” said Montreal defenceman P.K. Subban. “He finished all of his checks, he took the body really, really hard tonight, he had a good stick on the forecheck, he got in on the forecheck (and) he moved his feet.”
Then Parenteau…
Parenteau had a dicey year in Montreal after coming to the Canadiens in an off-season trade for Daniel Briere.
After scoring just five goals and four assists in his first 30 games, he suffered a concussion against the New Jersey Devils on Jan. 2.
Parenteau came back prematurely, by his own admission, and was back on the injured reserve shortly after.
Parenteau was a healthy scratch for the majority of the games when he returned. His agent, Allan Walsh, ruffled feathers within the Canadiens brass with a lobby for his player to be given another chance as their scoring was muted in the games he sat out.
Parenteau scored two goals and four assists in the final 15 games of the regular season before suffering an injury in Game 1 of the Ottawa series. After he was declared fit to return for Game 3, he was once again scratched by Therrien until Game 6.
Throughout the first four games of the Tampa series, Parenteau accounted for several scoring chances, but nothing went in. It looked like more of the same when he hit the post from the middle of the slot while the Canadiens were on the power play in the second period of Game 5.
“I lost a lot of confidence this year because of my injuries and the way things were going for a while,” said Parenteau. “When I hit the post, what went through my mind was, ‘here we go again, can’t catch a break.’”
“There’s no better feeling than to score a big goal like that to keep your team alive,” said Parenteau.
His persistence has not gone unnoticed by his teammates either.
“(Parenteau) has done everything that we’ve asked him to do,” said Subban. “He’s been such a great teammate off the ice. …and I’m very happy to see him score that goal.”
The save that kept the Canadiens alive
The Canadiens held onto a 1-0 lead for as long as they could, and it seemed certain to evaporate when Steven Stamkos found Valtteri Filppula all alone in front with 7:21 left in the third period.
“I looked the other way because I saw the play developing as I was on the bench,” said Max Pacioretty, who was certain the game would be tied on Filppula’s shot. “I saw the replay though, and that push—that’s why [Price] has got some strong legs—that push is unbelievable to get over there that quickly and make that save. He’s the only player in the world that can make that save.”
The goal that could’ve hurt the Canadiens
Just 2:06 after Price made the save on Filppula, Stamkos finally found the back of the net to tie the game at 1-1.
After Montreal missed three opportunities to widen its lead — three shots that struck iron — it would’ve been understandable if the game-tying goal had broken them.
“This is a group of guys that refuse to die,” said Therrien. “There was no sense of panic when (Stamkos) scored that goal. We got better when they scored that goal.”
The Canadiens held the Lightning to just two shots in the final 10:33 of the third.
How Montreal made history
For the first time in their history, the Canadiens forced Game 6 after having lost the first three games of a series.
“I think our transition game was the difference in the game, when they turned pucks over, we didn’t hold onto it, we moved it up the ice and we attacked, we attacked, we attacked. That’s their game,” said Subban.
“I thought our defence did a good job of stepping up and closing the gap and limiting their time and space.”
With another historical goal in mind, the Canadiens will now try to force Game 7 and become the fifth team in Stanley Cup Playoff history to eliminate a team from down 3-0 in the series.