Canadiens Notes: Looking to Build on Win

The series between the Montreal Canadiens and the Tampa Bay Lightning kicked off on Sunday at Benchmark International Arena. To start things off, Josh Anderson opened the scoring in the first period with a goal from the slot. The momentum swung in Tampa Bay’s favor in the second period when they scored two goals in 29 seconds. Juraj Slafkovsky scored two consecutive power play goals in a span of 6:18 to put Montreal back in front.

The home team tied the contest with their second power play goal of the night when Brandon Hagel slipped behind coverage to tap the puck behind the goal line. On the sequence, the penalty kill unit failed twice to clear the zone seconds before the tying goal.

Jake Guentzel took a costly offensive‑zone penalty in the final minute of regulation that carried over to overtime. Ultimately, Slafkovsky ended it with his third power play goal of the night at 1:22 of the extra period. The first round series continues on Tuesday at 7:00 pm. Eastern.

Habs Notes

Here are notes from Game One.

A tip of the hat to Martin St. Louis on the game winning goal. His name doesn’t appear on the scoresheet, but he made a key decision that led to Slafkovsky’s hat trick goal. He called a timeout at the first whistle 59 seconds into the frame to allow the top power play to rest and remain on the ice. The call paid off 23 seconds later.
Jakub Dobes looked nervous on the first shot, but immediately shook it off. He made key saves in the first period that potentially changed the night’s outcome. First, he stopped Erik Cernak from point blank in the slot, and another big save on Darren Raddysh later in the period following Mike Matheson’s turnover. Dobes’ stop on Raddysh led to the rush that made it 1–0.
Alexandre Carrier returned to action for the first time since the injury suffered on March 29th. He slotted into the top pairing with Matheson, taking the spot normally reserved for the injured Noah Dobson. Carrier won a battle behind the net in the offensive zone and fed the puck to Anderson for the goal. He delivered three hits, blocked two shots, and drew a penalty in 18:36 ice time.
Lane Hutson replaced Dobson on the second power play unit. In the first game of Dobson’s absence, Matheson played the blue line on that unit. Hutson is a bigger threat in that situation.
The Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield and Slafkovsky line was invisible on five-on-five. The trio needs to generate more offence for the Canadiens to have success in this series.

Rocket Notes

The Laval Rocket headed to their final road trip of the regular season with the North Division title in their pockets. Their opponents, the Toronto Marlies (Maple Leafs) needed victories for a chance to avoid taking part in the best-of-3 play-in series.

On Saturday, the Marlies led 4-0 with less than five minutes remaining in regulation, when the Rocket got on the board with three consecutive goals. It was too little, too late for Pascal Vincent’s squad. Toronto completed the weekend sweep on Sunday with a 4-2 win in a match where Vincent rested several key players.

The Rocket finish the regular season with 90 points. Their first opponent of the 2026 playoffs will be the winner of the series between the Marlies & the Rochester Americans (Buffalo Sabres).

Here are my notes from the weekend.

Vinzenz Rohrer joined the team on Wednesday following the conclusion of his season with Zurich SC in Switzerland. In 41 games, the forward obtained 12 points. The 75th overall pick of the 2022 NHL Entry draft made his North American debut on Sunday. Rohrer finished the contest with one goal and one assist, both obtained shorthanded.
Kaapo Kahknonen is going through a difficult stretch. In his last four starts, he has 1-2-1 record, 5.24 goals against average, .787 save percentage.
Samuel Blais finished the regular season with three goals, six assists, and 11 shots on goal in the final three games.
Joshua Roy also wrapped up the season on a high. The 22-year-old has six goals and two assists in the last four games.
Lucas Condotta didn’t dress on Sunday because of a suspension. The captain received an automatic suspension after receiving his 10th fighting major of the season on Saturday.