Canadiens Eliminate Lightning 2-1 in Game 7 with 9 Shots
Get the Sports newsletter
Daily sports — scores, transfers, the storylines from the leagues you actually follow. Free.
- Montreal registered just 9 shots on goal — the lowest total by a winning team in a playoff game since shots on goal were first officially tracked in 1959-60, per ESPN Research; the only team to record fewer (6) was the 2000 Toronto Maple Leafs, who lost.
- Rookie goaltender Jakub Dobes made 28 saves, while captain Nick Suzuki opened the scoring with 1:21 left in the first period when his redirection of Kaiden Guhle's slap shot deflected off Lightning defenseman J.J. Moser.
- Tampa Bay's defense held Montreal without a shot for nearly 27 minutes and recorded zero Canadiens shots in the second period — the first team shut out in a playoff period since Pittsburgh in Game 1 of the 2017 Stanley Cup Final.
- The Lightning have now been eliminated in the first round for four consecutive seasons, having last reached the Stanley Cup Final in 2022, and lost for the 11th time in their past 13 home playoff games, including three in this series.
- Every game in the series was decided by one goal, with four going to overtime and the score tied or within one goal for all but six minutes across the seven games.
- Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis, a Hockey Hall of Famer whose No. 26 is retired by the Lightning, became the fifth person to appear in a Game 7 as a player for one team and coach against them with another.
Why it matters: Tampa Bay's exit marks a fourth straight first-round playoff elimination and an 11-loss-in-13 home playoff slide, signaling a deeper home-ice problem for a franchise that fell two wins short of a three-peat in 2022. Montreal, despite mustering the fewest shots ever by a winning playoff team since 1960, advance to face Buffalo on Wednesday behind a 28-save effort from rookie Jakub Dobes.