The Habs wouldn't be here without a superb performance in Game 4 from Carey Price and the penalty-killing unit.
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Here are five things you should know about Game 5 of the Stanley Cup final between the Canadiens and the Lightning Wednesday at Amalie Arena in Tampa (8 p.m., CBC, SN, TVA Sports, TSN 690 Radio, 98.5 FM):
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Where they’re at: Nothing has changed for the Canadiens after their dramatic 3-2 overtime win over the Lightning at the Bell Centre Monday. Tampa Bay leads the best-of-seven final 3-1 and that means the Canadiens must win this game to stay alive. The Canadiens showed their resilience in the first round when they came back after trailing Toronto 3-1, but the Lightning is a stronger, better-balanced team and they should be highly motivated in their bid to win a second consecutive Cup before a sellout crowd.
Killers are the key: The Canadiens wouldn’t be here without a superb performance in Game 4 from the penalty-killing unit anchored by Ben Chiarot, Joel Edmundson and Phil Danault. Shea Weber, who is normally a key part of the PK, took a double minor for high-sticking at 18:59 of the third period, but the Lightning failed to score on a night when the Tampa power play went 0-for-5. The Canadiens penalty-kill, ranked 23rd in the regular season, leads the playoffs with 91.4-per-cent success rate. The Tampa power play has a 33.9 per cent success rate in the playoffs, but it is 2-for-12 against Montreal, which translates to a 16.7-per-cent success rate.
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Don’t forget Price: While we’re on the subject of the penalty-kill, it’s important to remember that your goaltender has to be your best penalty-killer and that was the case for Carey Price Monday. Nine of the 34 shots Price faced came on the power play and four of those came with Weber in the penalty box to start the overtime. Price wasn’t very good in the first three games of the final and, after Game 3, he said he had to be better and he was in Game 4. There were times early in the game when he fought the puck, but overall he turned in one of his best playoff performances.
Have Canadiens solved Vasilevskiy? Tampa goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy has a career record of 14-2-2 against the Canadiens with a 1.98 goals-against average and a .939 save percentage. But there are signs that the Canadiens are figuring out how to beat the Russian star. The Canadiens scored three goals on 21 shots Monday with Josh Anderson scoring twice and rookie defenceman Alexander Romanov adding one. Montreal has scored three goals in each of the past two games and that’s good enough to ensure a win if Price and the defence can deliver.
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Changes produce results: Canadiens head coach Ducharme made some lineup changes for Game 4 and, while he said there’s always room for surprises, you can expect to see the same lineup Wednesday. Ducharme brought in centre Jake Evans and defencemen Brett Kulak and Romanov while removing Jesperi Kotkaniemi and defencemen Jon Merrill and Erik Gustafsson. Romanov responded by scoring his first NHL playoff goal and he played a couple of shifts on the penalty-kill. Evans joined Artturi Lehkonen and Paul Byron as the centre on a shutdown line. He had the lone assist on Romanov’s goal, delivered a couple of hits and played more than four minutes on the PK.
phickey@postmedia.com
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Canadiens at Lightning: Five things you should know about Game 5 - Montreal Gazette
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