Call of the Wilde: Montreal Canadiens shock the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 1

When the Montreal Canadiens made the playoffs last season, it was a shock. They played like it was a shock taken out in five quick games. This season, the Canadiens finished sixth in the entire NHL. They have a feeling that they belong now.

However, the Tampa Bay Lightning have a feeling like they always belong — and they have. The last time the Lightning didn’t make the playoffs was 2017. However, with experience comes age. The Canadiens are hoping they can make the Lightning feel old by the end of the series.

Game one was a nail-biter with far too much officiating in it. It felt like controversy surrounded the entire game on just about every call. The Canadiens won in overtime, with Juraj Slafkovsky scoring a hat-trick goal for a 4-3 victory.

Wilde Horses 

The best player in the first half of the game for the Canadiens was Josh Anderson. Anderson scored the opening goal as he had Andrei Vasilevskiy cheating the wrong way to beat him glove side against the grain. Anderson made it 2-0 in the second period, but the goal was called back because of a high stick after initially being credited.

The power play has not been good to complete the regular season, so the goal late in the second period was massive for the confidence. It was a superb power play as the Canadiens had three chances before finally scoring.

Ivan Demidov made a clever feint, looking directly at the goalie, but passing to his right to Juraj Slafkovsky. He one-timed it. Slafkovsky was the regular-season leader in points against Tampa Bay with seven and goals with four, so he seems to enjoy it against this Tampa team.

The power play continued to sparkle in the third period. The movement was so much better as players were darting in and out of soft spots to find opportunities. Cole Caufield darted into the slot to get a shot away. Right after, early third period, Nick Suzuki fed Caufield, who fed Slafkovsky, who had found a dead zone. He ripped it home for his second of the game.

In overtime, the Canadiens’ power play completed the hat trick, as did the 22-year-old superstar. Slafkovsky was feeling it. He had a number of options, but chose to be the hero. He ripped the shot far side. The Canadiens won Game 1.

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On the winning goal, credit goes to the head coach as he wanted to stay with his first unit. At a whistle, he called a time out. Martin St. Louis wanted his first unit to stay on the ice for the final 50 seconds. It was a brilliant decision.

There were some good performances from a Canadiens club that had a good plan on how to keep it close. The second line showed more spark than it has in a long time with Oliver Kapanen back on the line.

The Canadiens had been cutting down on Kapanen’s ice time, and it may be that they wanted him to have less of a workload so he could get his energy back up for the playoffs. It worked as Kapanen had a strong game.

On defence, the best pairing was Kaiden Guhle and Lane Hutson. The Lightning were obviously targeting Hutson for violence, as expected. Hutson answered the call. He didn’t turtle, but accepted the challenge and had a strong game. Hutson is the only defender on the team who can play on his wrong side — and the organization is thankful for that with Noah Dobson out for the series.

Another pairing had a strong game, and this is an absolute bonus for the Canadiens. Arber Xhekaj and Jayden Struble had an excellent game with both the eye-test and the analytics. They are a physical and strong pairing, and they held their own decision-wise. That’s a playoff-winning combination.

Wilde Goats 

The Canadiens seemed to have the game well in control, but then it turned ugly for 29 seconds. It all started when Anderson got called for a charging penalty. Anderson was a fierce competitor all night, and the officials found that he was too fierce. It was a call made only because the defender, Charle-Edouard D’Astous, was injured with a concussion.

The Lightning scored on the power play thanks to Jake Evans breaking his stick. Evans even had a clear chance to clear the puck out — if he actually was holding a stick at the time. The entire mess led to Darren Raddysh scoring with a slap shot.

Only 29 seconds later, more controversy as Brandon Hagel held the stick of Hutson, dropping him to the ice while holding it. That kept the play alive, and Hagel actually finished as well. The two quick goals both had aspects of it that the Canadiens won’t be happy about.

Apart from that momentum swing, the Canadiens’ top line had a difficult night five-on-five. Suzuki, Caufield and Slafkovsky had only a five per cent expected goals share after two periods. They finished with a three per cent share. That line has to figure it out against the Anthony Cirelli line with only one job for the next two weeks — stop Suzuki.

The power-play got it done in game one, but overall, the line will need to figure it out five-on-five against Cirelli, who is always excellent in the playoffs. It seems like a nitpick after a win, but most of the game will be five-on-five as the series progresses.

Wilde Cards 

The Laval Rocket wrapped up their regular season in Toronto against the Marlies Sunday afternoon with a 4-2 loss. The Rocket earned first place in the North Division this season and, as a result, earned a first-round bye straight into the East Conference semi-finals.

The Rocket will play the winner of the four-five matchup in the east between the Marlies and the Rochester Americans. The two-three matchup sees the Cleveland Monsters against the Syracuse Crunch.

It’s difficult for the minor leagues to ice their best line-up. For example, the Rocket are missing their best two defenders in David Reinbacher and Adam Engstrom, who are needed in Tampa Bay because of injuries to the parent team.

Neither played in Game 1 in the Stanley Cup playoffs, but that doesn’t mean that they might not be called upon at a moment’s notice, so they can’t be a long flight and a full day of travel away from the Canadiens. To be well-rested, Reinbacher and Engstrom are needed near the Canadiens.

It could settle out better for the Rocket by this time next week. The first game of the AHL playoffs is Wednesday night for the first round best-of-three. The Rocket won’t play their first game until approximately April 27. The opener will be at Place Bell in the best-of-five.

Brian Wilde, a Montreal-based sports writer, brings you Call of the Wilde on globalnews.ca after each Canadiens game.