Game Three: One Win Away

June 9, 1993. The Montréal Canadiens defeat the Los Angeles Kings by a score of 4-1 in Game Five of the Stanley Cup Final, earning them their NHL-record 24th Stanley Cup. Not only did that day mark the last time a Canadian franchise won the Stanley Cup, but it was also the last time a Stanley Cup Final game was played in Montréal, until Game Three of this year's affair. For the first time in this year's playoffs, the Canadiens' backs were up against the wall. With no answer for Andrei Vasilevskiy, the Canadiens find themselves in a 2-0 hole for the first time in this year's playoffs, and they were looking to bounce back in front of their home crowd.

Unfortunately, the Tampa Bay Lightning had other ideas, as Jan Rutta opened the scoring just 1:52 into the game--Ondrej Palat and Victor Hedman had the helpers. Hedman would add a marker just over 90 seconds later, with Nikita Kucherov and Anthony Cirelli assisting, and at nearly three and a half minutes of game time, Tampa Bay was up 2-0. Ouch! However, the Canadiens lit their lamp in the period's midpoint, with Phillip Danault scoring his first of the playoffs at 11:16. Shea Weber assisted, and after 20 minutes, the Habs outshot Tampa Bay 17-12, but it was the Lightning who led 2-1.

The relentless Tampa Bay attack continued, with Kucherov scoring his eighth of the playoffs just 100 seconds into the 2nd period. Palat and Erik Cernak assisted, and less than two minutes later, Tyler Johnson made it 4-1, with Erik Cernak and Mathieu Joseph assisting. This looked bad for the Habs. While Game One was a blowout, it was only because Tampa Bay exploded in the third period. In this game, the Lightning explosion came early and without mercy; it all but deflated the Canadiens. However, Nick Suzuki attempted to bring his team back with a late goal with under two minutes left. Cole Caufield and Jeff Petry assisted, and though the Habs ended the 2nd period down 4-2, it seemed like there was hope for them to mount a comeback.

The third period was saw good chances from both teams, but nothing really happening. At 15:18, Tyler Johnson scored his second of the game to make it 5-2, leading coach Dominique Ducharme (who was back at the helm after being in quarantine due to a positive COVID-19 test) to pull Carey Price for the extra attacker to get something going. It looked like it was going to work; Corey Perry scored 39 seconds after Johnson's goal to make it 5-3 (Ben Chiarot and Brendan Gallagher assisted), but 50 seconds after that, Blake Coleman put it in the empty net, and that was that.

The Tampa Bay Lightning won 6-3, and they are one win away from repeating as Stanley Cup Champions. On a larger note, Pat Maroon is one win away from winning his third straight Stanley Cup. He was part of the St. Louis Blues' championship run in 2019 before joining the Lightning last season and winning his second straight. The Lightning are the first team to go up 3-0 in the Stanley Cup Final since the Los Angeles Kings did so in 2014 (they ended up winning in five games). There has not been a sweep in the Stanley Cup Final since the Detroit Red Wings won four straight over the Washington Capitals in 1998.

For the Canadiens, this was their most productive game, but it was still not even close to being enough. They have not led at all in this series, and they have been outscored 14-5 in the three games played. They will have to pull off a "reverse sweep" to win this whole thing, though NHL history is on their side. The "reverse sweep" has been done four times in NHL history and once in the Stanley Cup Final (1942). Also, it has only been seven years since the NHL's last "reverse sweep"; the Kings coming back to defeat the San Jose Sharks in the opening round. So the Canadiens aren't truly done yet.

Game Four is Monday in Montréal, and it could mark the final game for the NHL on NBC. Fun fact: Tampa Bay's Stanley Cup win in Game Seven of the 2004 Final was ABC's final NHL game (until the upcoming 2021-22 season), so they could end a second era on Monday.

If you like this story, feel free to comment on my Twitter and Facebook pages, and if you really love this story, feel free to leave a tip (if you want)!