NHL Playoffs 2014, Canadiens vs. Lightning final score: Montreal takes 3-0 series lead
By Josh Hill
The Montreal Canadiens needed a win in Game 3 to push the Tampa Bay Lightning to the brink of elimination and that’s exactly what has happened. The Bolts deserve credit for once in the series as they actually showed some heart, but it appears to be too little much too late as the Canadiens now have a 3-0 series lead and are a game away from sweeping Tampa Bay out of the playoffs.
Rene Bourque got the night off to a hot start, scoring his third goal of the postseason and he was joined in the scoring column by Brendan Gallagher in the second period. Tomas Plekanec added the third goal of the night for the Habs but the Lightning were able to get a few scores on the board to make things interesting.
Both Ondrej Palat and Matt Carle got Tampa Bay on the scoreboard with goals in the second and third periods respectively. But while we’ve seen teams be able to rush the final minute of close games to get goals they need, the bolts have displayed already that they don’t belong in the postseason and are soon going to be in that exact position.
As easy as it is to hate on the hapless Lightning, they did get screwed out of a late goal that would have tied the game on a very questionable goalie interference call.
It’s possible that they may win a game, but the writing is on the wall and it’s now not a matter of if the Habs cut them out of the playoffs, it’s when.