It’s now confirmed; the Montreal Canadiens will face the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. The two teams met four times this season, and each won twice. Montreal won the last two meetings but was outscored 13-11 in the season series.

As of now, it’s unknown whether the series will start in Montreal or Tampa Bay, since both teams could finish second in the Atlantic Division. What we do know, however, is that if the series starts in Tampa, it will kick off on Sunday because the Benchmark International Arena is unavailable on Saturday night due to a concert. Since the NHL has already announced that the playoffs will kick off on Saturday, if Montreal were to get home-ice advantage, the duel could start then. On the Bell Centre events page, game 1 is provisionally scheduled for Monday but is still listed as TBD. We’ll get confirmation once all games have been played.

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What we do know, however, is that both teams have some question marks about their defense corps. For the Canadiens, it’s the status of Noah Dobson, and to a lesser extent, that of Alexandre Carrier, that is a cause for concern. Carrier has started skating again but did not accompany the team in its last road trip of the season, while Dobson will be reevaluated about halfway through the first round. Given the fact that the Canadiens don’t have much depth when it comes to right-shot defensemen, this could be an issue.

As for the Lightning, they have been without ace blueliner and captain Victor Hedman since March 25, when he took an official leave of absence from the team. No further details have been revealed, and the date of his return remains unknown. While he has been limited to 33 games this season because of various injuries and has only put up 17 points while playing less than he has in the past (18:52 TOI compared to 23:05 TOI last season), he remains a key leader for the team and one who has valuable experience in the postseason (120 points in 170 games). The former Norris Trophy winner guided the Bolts to two Stanley Cups in 2019-20 and in 2020-21, winning the Conn Smythe Trophy after their first triumph.

Both teams have a high-octane offense; Tampa has scored 284 goals this season and ranks fourth in the league, while the Canadiens have 277. That works out to 3.51 goals-per-game for the Bolts and to 3.42 goals-per-game for the Habs. Tampa has three players in the top 40 scorers in the league: Nikita Kucherov, who has 130 points in 75 games, trailing only Nathan MacKinnon, who leads the league with 134 points; Jake Guentzel, who has 88 points; and Brandon Hagel, who has 74 points.

Meanwhile, the Canadiens have four players in the top 40 scorers in the league: captain Nick Suzuki, who’s fifth in the league with 101 points, sniper Cole Caufield, who, just like Guentzel, has 88 points; defenseman Lane Hutson, who has 78 points; and power forward Juraj Slafkovsky, who sneaks in the top 40 with 73 points.

While this will be a rematch of the 2021 Stanley Cup Final, the Canadiens are a completely different side from what they were five years ago. Back then, they had put all their chips on phenomenal goaltending by Carey Price and big, punishing defensemen. Now, the Canadiens play an exciting brand of hockey led by former Tampa Bay star forward-turned-coach Martin St-Louis.

In 2021, Montreal lost the final in five games, being outscored 17-8. Back then, the Canadiens’ top scorer was Tyler Toffoli with 44 points in 52 games, while the league leader, Connor McDavid, had 105 points in 56 games. A young Suzuki, playing his sophomore season, had 41 points in 56 games. Needless to say, the Canadiens have a much stronger offense this time around.

In net, Andrei Vasilevskiy is still the man to beat. He leads all goaltenders with a 2.31 goals-against average, has a .912 save percentage, and a 39-15-4 record on the season. In the playoffs, he’s 67-50-0 with a .918 SV and a 2.45 GAA. Back in 2021, he was the Conn Smythe Trophy winner and a real thorn in the Canadiens’ side.

Meanwhile, Jakub Dobes will be the Canadiens’ number one when the puck drops on the series. The 24-year -old has a 29-9-4 record on the season with a 2.75 GAA and a .903 SV. He’s 1-2-0 in the playoffs, with a 2.91 GAA and a .881 SV, his only experience having been last year’s first-round series against the Washington Capitals, when he replaced Samuel Montembeault when he went down with an injury. Jacob Fowler will be waiting in the wings if Dobes Falters.

This promises to be an exciting series, pitting one of the youngest teams in the league (the Canadiens are now second to the Chicago Blackhawks, who have an average age of 25.04 years old, while Montreal’s is 25.63 years old) against one of the oldest ones with an average age of 29.37 years old. Furthermore, there were 126 penalty minutes the last time the two teams faced off; there is already a lot of animosity between them.

Interestingly, behind the bench, St-Louis will take on the man who was his last coach when he played for the Bolts, Jon Cooper. Over the years, the former lawyer has coached 155 playoff games, winning 88 and losing 67, for a .568 winning percentage. Meanwhile, St-Louis has only won a single playoff game behind the bench and will face a big challenge. If Tampa gets home-ice advantage, Cooper will also have the last change to start the series, which would complicate matters even further for St-Louis.

Buckle up, Habs fans, this is going to be a wild one!

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Samuel Montembeault

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