Season Ends as Bolts Drop Game 7 Despite Valiant Effort

Image Credit: Mike Smith | Thunderstruck Sports

By Michelle Gordon | Thunderstruck Sports

It was do or die tonight as the Lightning hosted the Montreal Canadiens for a winner-take-all game 7. Unfortunately for the Tampa Bay Lightning, their season came to an end despite a valiant effort. Tampa Bay was the better team throughout the game tonight but just couldn't find the back of the net when they needed to.

Who Would Score First in Game 7?

Both teams desperately wanted the first goal tonight. The Bolts had given up the first goal in four of the first six games so far this series. The only exceptions were game two (where the Lightning went on to win in overtime) and game six where no one scored until halfway through the overtime period. The Bolts wanted to start this game on time and score first. Montreal, meanwhile, wanted to continue their trend of scoring first to silence the crowd.

The Bolts certainly seemed to want it more in the opening period. They dominated in shots and controlled a lot of offensive zone time.

Unfortunately, with a minute and twenty-one seconds remaining in the first, the Canadiens took advantage of a failed clearing attempt and a bad bounce to take a 1-0 lead.

A "Dom"inant Second Period

The Lightning played what could only be described as a dominant second period. They held Montreal shotless for the full 20 minutes. Each team had two power plays in the period. On the Bolts' second power play, the finally connected and manage to get this game tied up. Dominic James tipped a puck in front of the net off a point shot from Charle-Edouard D'Astous. Gage Goncalves tallied the secondary assist.

Tampa Bay fired twelve shots on Dobes that period. Through forty minutes, they were outshooting Montreal 21-4, but where it mattered, it was tied 1-1.

Game 7, Period 3

The Lightning continued to push to start the final period. It took until almost six minutes in for Montreal to finally muster a shot on net. In all, the Canadiens went 26:55 without a shot on goal. And yet, they were not losing.

One of these teams would need to catch a break at some point. But which team would it be? We got our answer at 11:07 when Montreal scored the go-ahead goal on a lucky bounce. Alex Newhook's goal made it 2-1 with 8:53 remaining.

Despite their best efforts, the Lightning could not find the tying goal, and their season ends with a 2-1 loss. Shots on goal favored the Lightning 28-9.

Tonight was truly a dominant effort by the Tampa Bay Lightning, and they can hold their heads high despite the result.

Three Stars

1- Jakub Dobes

2- Dominic James

3- Alex Newhook