Tuesday, April 27, 2004
A Winning Hab-it.
Despite being outplayed for large stretches of the game, the Lightning have gone into Montreal and pulled out a 4-3 OT win over Les Habs, giving them a commanding 3-0 (is a 3-0 lead ever not commanding?) lead in the best-of-seven series.
Brad Richards banked in his own rebound off the skate of Jose Theodore less than 2 minutes into OT, an extra session forced by Vinny Lecavalier (him again) tipping home a Dave Andreychuk shot (more a throw at the net) with 14 seconds left. Cory Stillman scored on a shorthanded breakaway and Richards on a power play in the second to give the Bolts a 2-1 lead, but two Montreal goals in the last ten minutes of regulation gave them a short-lived 3-2 lead, their first of the series.
Montreal came out with the cheap shots again early, but they mostly succeeded in taking Lightning players with them to the box. At one point, with five Habs and four Bolts in their respective boxes, it looked like the crowds to come tomorrow in the waiting rooms of Montreal-area therapists. The Lightning remain perfect in Games 3 of playoff series; they are now 5-0.
Meanwhile, the winning goal was eerily reminiscent of the OT winner that closed out the Islander series, as in both cases, Freddy Modin won the puck along the side boards outside the Montreal blue line, and the puck came ahead to a player breaking in alone along the left wing. Last time it was St. Louis, who immediately hit a scorcher for the goal; this time, it was Richards, who didn't quite hit the shot Marty did, but got a hold of it well enough to force a rebound and score by banking it off the back of Theodore's leg.
Of course the Lightning still have to win one more game, but given that coming back from an 0-3 deficit has only been accomplished twice in NHL history, most recently by the 1975 New York Islanders, the series is effectively over. If Philly wins tomorrow night in Toronto, a rematch of the Bolts' first-ever playoff series from 1996 with the Flyers is all but assured for the conference final.
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Brad Richards banked in his own rebound off the skate of Jose Theodore less than 2 minutes into OT, an extra session forced by Vinny Lecavalier (him again) tipping home a Dave Andreychuk shot (more a throw at the net) with 14 seconds left. Cory Stillman scored on a shorthanded breakaway and Richards on a power play in the second to give the Bolts a 2-1 lead, but two Montreal goals in the last ten minutes of regulation gave them a short-lived 3-2 lead, their first of the series.
Montreal came out with the cheap shots again early, but they mostly succeeded in taking Lightning players with them to the box. At one point, with five Habs and four Bolts in their respective boxes, it looked like the crowds to come tomorrow in the waiting rooms of Montreal-area therapists. The Lightning remain perfect in Games 3 of playoff series; they are now 5-0.
Meanwhile, the winning goal was eerily reminiscent of the OT winner that closed out the Islander series, as in both cases, Freddy Modin won the puck along the side boards outside the Montreal blue line, and the puck came ahead to a player breaking in alone along the left wing. Last time it was St. Louis, who immediately hit a scorcher for the goal; this time, it was Richards, who didn't quite hit the shot Marty did, but got a hold of it well enough to force a rebound and score by banking it off the back of Theodore's leg.
Of course the Lightning still have to win one more game, but given that coming back from an 0-3 deficit has only been accomplished twice in NHL history, most recently by the 1975 New York Islanders, the series is effectively over. If Philly wins tomorrow night in Toronto, a rematch of the Bolts' first-ever playoff series from 1996 with the Flyers is all but assured for the conference final.
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