[April 16, 2014]The Montreal Canadiens attempt to
erase the stinging memory of last season's Eastern Conference
first-round playoff ouster when they visit the Tampa Bay Lightning on
Wednesday night in the opener of a best-of-seven series. Unlike a year
ago when Montreal was a prohibitive favorite over Ottawa, the Canadiens
and Tampa Bay finished one point apart in the standings. Montreal needs
to find a way to generate some offense against the Lightning after
scoring once in each of their four meetings.
Although Tampa Bay won three of the four matchups this season,
three of the contests were tied 1-1 at the end of regulation and the
only game decided before overtime was knotted at 1-1 entering the
final period. The biggest question mark for the Lightning is the
health of starting goaltender Ben Bishop, who missed the final three
contests of the regular season and will not be available for at
least Game 1. Anders Lindback was magnificent in his place, going
3-0-0 and earning the NHL's First Star of the Week.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, CNBC, CBC, RDS (Montreal), SUN (Tampa Bay)
ABOUT THE CANADIENS (46-28-8, 3rd in Atlantic Division): Carey Price
carried the burden of an entire nation when he backstopped Team
Canada to the gold medal at the Winter Olympics, but the pressure
will be no less for a rabid Montreal fan base salivating for its
25th Stanley Cup overall and first championship since 1993. Price
tuned up for the playoffs with a 41-save shutout — his sixth of the
season — in a 1-0 victory over the New York Rangers in the season
finale en route to posting a career-best .927 save percentage, but
he'll need help from an offense that received a jolt with the
trade-deadline acquisition of Thomas Vanek from the New York
Islanders. The Canadiens' top line of Vanek, Max Pacioretty
(career-high 39 goals) and David Desharnais combined for 18 tallies
and 23 assists in 41 games, although Montreal's offense bogged down
with only three goals in its last three games.
ABOUT THE LIGHTNING (46-27-9, 2nd in Atlantic Division): The
resilient team withstood the loss of superstar Steven Stamkos for 45
games to a broken leg and the trade of captain and leading scorer
Martin St. Louis, so it hardly comes as a surprise that Lindback has
the full confidence of Tampa Bay. Lindback allowed only two goals in
his last three appearances and registered his only shutout of the
campaign by blanking Washington in the regular-season finale — a
victory that clinched home ice against the Canadiens. Rookie Ondrej
Palat and Valtteri Filppula returned to practiced Tuesday and will
be ready for the opener after missing the season finale with
injuries.
Filppula has failed to hit the scoresheet in eight career games
against Montreal while Pacioretty has six goals and six assists in
12 contests versus the Lightning.
Tampa Bay closed the season on a four-game winning streak,
allowing a total of four goals.
Montreal went 0-for-23 on the power play in its last eight games.
