2021 NHL Stanley Cup Final: Canadiens kill crucial penalty, defeat Lightning in Game 4 to extend series (2024)

For the first time in 2021, the Stanley Cup was in the building — and it didn't get awarded. Instead, we get more hockey this season, courtesy of the Montreal Canadiens, who won Game 4, 3-2, in overtime.

Before the game, Tampa Bay was looking for its second straight Cup; the Canadiens were looking for a fifth game. The Lightning couldn't complete the sweep, which would've been the first in the Final since Detroit over Washington in 1998. Read Game 4 insights from The Athletic’s Scott Burnside and Sean Gentille below in reverse chronological order.

Here's some relevant series reading:

» Stanley Cup Final picks, odds: Expert selections for Game 4 between the Tampa Bay Lightning and Montreal Canadiens (The Athletic NHL staff)

» Each of the last 25 Stanley Cup-winning goals, ranked from worst to best (Sean McIndoe)

» If the Canadiens gift-wrap the Stanley Cup for the Lightning, they will never be able to live with themselves (Arpon Basu)

» How Tyler Johnson delivered what is potentially the final big moment of his Lightning legacy (Joe Smith)

(Photo: Eric Bolte / USA Today)

Tim Burke, the nation's DVR, always tweets clips of the best moments in sports. Monday was no exception. Click through to these tweets to hear the Canadiens' winning goal called on Montreal radio in English and in French.

Click here for English.

Click here for French.

Lightning's Victor Hedman on his team going 0 for 5 on the power play (via The Athletic's Joe Smith): “We’ve got to score goals, that’s the bottom line. We put pressure on ourselves to produce. It doesn’t happen. We’re disappointed in that.”

Lightning's Barclay Goodrow (via Smith): “In the past, we've done a good job of leaving the previous game in the past if we're coming off a loss. We have a great leadership group that gets our minds in the right spot. This game's over and done with.”

Canadiens coach Dominique Ducharme (via Canadiens live stream): "For me, it's not surprising. We've been through a lot. ... We still feel we can be better. We'll do that in Tampa."

(Photo: Eric Bolte / USA Today)

Scott: Sean, wow. The Habs, not to overuse a term like "dig deep," do just that. They kill almost three minutes of Tampa PP time to start OT – get a good shorthanded chance – and then Josh Anderson, a key acquisition by the Habs in the offseason, uses his speed to score the OT winner and stave off elimination at least for a couple of days.

And while he didn’t score as I predicted (did I mention this is all about me?), Cole Caufield stops on a dime in front and allows Anderson to pot the rebound. After a rocky start to the game, that was dynamite all around. Glad we shared it, pal.

Sean: Agreed on all counts, my man. What an effort by Anderson — all game, really. He’s taken a lot of heat throughout the playoffs, and rightfully so; he had just two goals coming into the night. But sheesh, he came through. We wondered where the goals were going to come from. Turns out it was him.

Really, that game was exactly how Ducharme drew it up. Romanov (lineup addition) scored on a pass from Evans (lineup addition). Carey Price looked like Carey Price. Not sure I’d bet on it happening three more times, but you’ve got to walk before you run. We deserved one good game, if nothing else. Looking forward to Wednesday night ... so I’m sure that means we’re getting a 4-1 finale.

Scott: Sean, so, who gets the winner? I'll go first. Cole Caufield. (Already I can hear people say, winner of Game 1 of the regular season? Ha. Ha.)

And if we're picking one from each team I'll go Tyler Johnson, who is, in all likelihood, going to be playing elsewhere next season because of the Lightning's cap situation.

Sean: It’s tragic that we’re not doing one of our full-roster goal pool drafts. Maybe next year. I’m going with Brayden Point on the power play. Feed by Kucherov. If we’re picking one for each team, how about Nick Suzuki? He’s been great tonight. Looking forward to 10-15 more years of this from him.

Wild stat I just saw, by the way: Tampa is winning five-on-five high-danger chances tonight 14-3. It was 8-0 in the third period alone.

Scott: And how much is this going to suck for Shea Weber if the Lightning, who know a little something about the power play, finish this off while Weber is in the box? First time in the final for Weber, 35, and he finishes it off sitting in the box for a careless penalty. Oh man. That's going to hurt.

(Photo: Eric Bolte / USA Today)

Bit of a good news/bad news situation for the Canadiens. They made it to overtime. They’re still alive. They’ve not yet been swept.

If they stay alive, though, they’re going to have to kill off another 2:59 of Tampa power-play time. Shea Weber will start overtime in the box on a blood-drawing high stick against Ondrej Palat that could’ve been seen from space. Naturally, it took a huddle to decide whether to call anything.

Two things to keep in mind: Tampa needs to be exceedingly careful, because any excuse to nullify the power play will be taken, and that unit — led by a presumably angry Nikita Kucherov, who hit the post from two feet away down the stretch — will get a fresh sheet of ice.

Scott: Sean, I would also add that, yes, this is not an optimum position for Montreal vis a vis staying alive (OK, it pretty much sucks for them) but the Habs PK has shown this playoff year they can do some damage of their own. Just saying. Good news for you and I, it will take three goals to win this one no matter how it falls.

Fun to see Tampa pushed a little bit. They have been in control of games pretty much since early in Game 7 against the Islanders.

And of course it’s Mr. Stanley Cup Pat Maroon who knots things up as Brett Kulak can’t control the big man going to the net.

Now we’re in it with five minutes to go in regulation.

Sean: Yeah, it’s another nice little reminder of how deep they are, huh? Something tells me Mathieu Joseph would be a third-liner on a lot of other teams right now. For Tampa, he’s the 13th forward. Not a bad guy to have throwing alley-oops to the Big Rig, eh?

Funny thing about these last two goals, by the way; in some alternate universe, that scrap between the third lines doesn’t happen and different players are on the ice. You can bet the Maroon line wouldn’t have been out there, at least.

Scott: And the Lightning don't get that opportunity if Tyler Toffoli does his job and gets the puck deep, but he fails to do so and just like that Tampa makes the Habs pay. Toffoli, by the way, is without a goal in this series and hasn't scored since Game 2 against Vegas.

I might’ve been a little quick on the trigger — this game has been pretty fun. The last 30 minutes of play have been fun, and we both (obviously) were correct in our assessment of Alexander Romanov. I’m not sure Dom Ducharme was expecting swapping out third-pair defensem*n to pay off in the form of a goal, but here we are. Not bad.

Huge goal. Perfectly placed shot. A great way to set up the last 10 minutes here.

I was wondering earlier — as the Habs came out flat, again, looking dead on their feet, again — when Shea Weber would enter the series. Lo and behold, he spent most of the second period trying to make Brayden Point cry. It’s nice to be able to count on things like that.

We've got some time during intermission, so I’m going to do one of the things I typically when Scotty and I are sitting somewhere dark, watching a dull hockey game. Lots of people love Shea Weber. I’m not sure how many more bites at the apple he’s going to get. So, my friend, who is your favorite Cup-less player? Who deserved one the most?

Scott: Sean, that’s why you’re one of the best. Once again allowing me to prattle on. The only thing missing is me putting some Hip or Pogues on a jukebox while we’re at it. Maybe because I wrote about him passing Gordie Howe’s all-time games played record, but Patrick Marleau.

But if I had to pick one I’d go with Jason Spezza. Such a quality guy so great to deal with. Of course, the fact he’s signed on to play for the Leafs for one more year means, well, sorry about your luck Jason.

Sean, well, now we’ll see about the Habs’ mojo after they once again give up a goal late in the second period in a game where they’ve been quite good.

In Game 2, the last-second goal by Blake Coleman gave the Lightning a lead and sunk Montreal. Does Barclay Goodrow’s goal off a horrific turnover by Jeff Petry that ties this game 1-1 late in the second have a similar stake through the heart effect? Guess we’ll find out in the third.

So, how many does it take to win this game, Sean? Figure it's going to take three.

But the Canadiens do look like they're finally finding their legs a bit and look a little bit more like the team that had such swagger in the series against Vegas. In short, they don't look as much like a team waiting for terrible things to happen as have for most of this series.

Sean: Yeah, they’ve closed most of the shot disparity, just got a nice chance out of Joel Armia … and here comes the Tampa power play. No matter how ugly the rest of the game is, watching that unit is a legit treat. So much fun. I’m also on the “three to win” train here.

Sean, also wanted to make note of this before too much more of this game goes along.

Classy as usual for Montreal to take a moment to honor Columbus netminder Matiss Kivlenieks, who passed away after a shocking fireworks accident in Michigan with a moment of silence.

But shame on those in attendance at the Bell Centre who ruined the moment with shouts and cheers. Garbage.

Sean: Absolutely. I’ve been thinking of Kivlenieks and his family — and the other folks at that party who witnessed the accident — all day. Shocking and unimaginably sad.

Sean, as you know, most of my favorite stories are about me. So I’m glad you asked. Maybe the hardest was 2014 when the Kings were up 3-0 over the Rangers but couldn’t close the deal in Game 4 at Madison Square Garden even though they outplayed the Rangers by a wide margin. I seem to recall there was a rather morose group of reporters heading to LaGuardia early the next morning.

Another hard one was Game 5 of the final in Carolina in 2006. A short flight home to Atlanta, and not only did the Hurricanes give up a shorthanded overtime goal to Fernando Pisani, we went all the way to Edmonton and the ‘Canes mailed in Game 6, so back to Raleigh we went for Game 7. The only mitigating factor in that was an epic journalist bash that ended up at Bates Battaglia’s bar in Raleigh, which I’m happy to report is still operating in spite of being overrun by journalists.

Hockey, man. The first period stats are hilarious.

Shot attempts: 24-8, Tampa. Actual shots, 12-5. Scoring chances, 6-3. Expected goals, 1.64 to 0.35.

Actual goals? Josh Anderson 1, everybody else, zero.

Everything has gone according to plan for Carey Price, I’ll certainly say that much. That’s the only reason to think this could drag on a while longer; Price reverting to his form from the first three rounds. It’s not impossible.

(Photo: Eric Bolte / USA Today)

Not sure you could’ve dreamt up a more predictable goal than that one. Josh Anderson gave the Habs their first lead of the series on their second shot of the game. Great feed by Nick Suzuki. Maybe they only need one good center, after all. This all came after they struggled for 15 minutes to get the puck out of their own zone.

So that had to happen. Montreal is 11-2 when scoring first in the playoffs, and the Lightning are 0-4 when they allow the first goal. Park the bus, hope Carey Price keeps looking like Carey Price and cross your fingers.

If the Canadiens pull this off, the series heads back to Tampa. It won’t feel any less decided, though, and that game is on track to be played in, essentially, the middle of a hurricane. Potentially cool for Lightning fans, who’d get the chance to see a Cup clinch at home, and potentially horrible for all of our colleagues covering this one. Changing cities in a pretty non-competitive series, with some miserable weather mixed in? Sheesh.

So, my dear Scotty, I ask you this — what was the most annoying series-extending win you’ve had to deal with? I know there’s been a few.

Scott: Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha. Just like I was saying. All Montreal needs to do is play like a bag of hammers for most of the first period and then lull the Lightning into a stupor. Still, an absolute golden pass from Nick Suzuki to Josh Anderson, who gives Montreal their first lead of the series. So, now on to more important things like answering your question during this first intermission.

Before Game 4 at Bell Centre in Montreal, both teams and fans in the arena held a moment of silence for Columbus goaltender Matiss Kivlenieks, who died Sunday.

Read more about Kivlenieks below, and watch the moment of silence here.

Sean, you are correct as usual. And all that after wolfing down a calzone. You can’t teach that. And of course, there’s no debating just how good Tampa has been throughout the playoffs and they’ll be full value for this Cup win whenever it happens.

But if you’re a Habs fan you’ve got to be disappointed at how they’ve started this game which is to say pretty much how they’ve played this entire series.

Sloppy play by Cole Caufield leading to a good early Tampa chance, shaky play by Carey Price on an easy early shot, errant passes out of the defensive zone and through the neutral zone and blind ‘gee I hope one of our guys is there’ passes in the offensive zone. The only silver lining for the Habs is that they aren’t down 2-0 like they were in Game 3.

Yeah, getting Gustafsson out of there is a good thing, and Jon Merrill might’ve had one of the worst sequences of the playoffs in Game 3, so I’m on board with the back end moves.

As far as Kotkaniemi-for-Evans goes, I just ... don’t like it. No knock on Evans, either. He’s a nice player with great defensive impacts, and it’s cool to see him playing whatsoever after the Mark Scheifele thing, but man, they need goals. It sounds reductive, and I see the logic in trying to tighten up defensively, because trying to outgun Tampa is a sucker’s bet, but you’ve got to give yourself a shot at getting offensive production from a center other than Nick Suzuki. Also, Kotkaniemi is probably a better-rounded player than most give him credit for.

I mean, as I typed that, shots were 6-0 Lightning after six minutes. You’ve got to give yourself a chance at production, somewhere.

Sean, what do you think of the changes Habs head coach Dominique Ducharme has made for this must-win effort? Alexander Romanov and Brett Kulak in on the blue line for Erik Gustafsson and Jon Merrill and Jake Evans in for Jesperi Kotkaniemi up front.

I was pretty hard on Gustafsson during our live blog on Friday, and to be honest, Gustafsson hasn’t been very good. So I like the move on the back end because, to put it bluntly, Romanov really can’t be worse and at least should be able to log some even-strength minutes without chaos accompanying every shift. But lots of folks seem confused by the move to swap Kotkaniemi, who has five goals including a game-winner and three assists in 19 postseason games, for Jake Evans, who looked out of sorts in Game 1 in his first game back after being bowled over by Mark Scheifele in Game 1 of the second round.

Evans has one goal in five games, and the expectation is he’ll play a shutdown role with Artturi Lehkonen and Paul Byron. Low risk, I suppose, but nothing is low risk when you’ve got to win to stay alive.

Is it OK to feel just a little bit bad for Tampa and the prospect that they have the opportunity to do the almost impossible – go back to back – and do it twice without being able to celebrate the moment with friends and family in a "normal" fashion? Of course, nothing will detract from the accomplishment. And seeing those names etched on the Cup for all time will no doubt help mitigate any feelings of disappointment or regret at the circ*mstances of those wins, assuming Tampa doesn’t somehow let this series slip away from them.

Still, for a dream that is unattainable for so many players, coaches, executives, staff to have it happen back to back without having that moment of being able to stand shoulder to shoulder on the ice with those closest to them must come with a certain melancholy feeling. At least it makes me feel a bit melancholy.

When I first started covering hockey, I was fortunate to cover Detroit’s back-to-back Cup wins in ’97 and ’98. At that time, reporters were allowed in the dressing room postgame. It was chaos, and not an easy place to get work done, what with champagne and beer everywhere. First-world problems.

One of my favorite memories was Grind Line regular Darren McCarty hugging his father, Craig, in the Red Wing locker room. Darren, a native of Leamington, Ontario, not far from the Windsor/Detroit border, had scored the game-winning goal in what was the first Detroit Cup win in 42 years. When the two finished their happy hug, I saw how Darren’s sweat-soaked jersey likewise marked the front of Craig’s shirt. Neither one cared, and Craig and I joked that he wouldn’t be in any hurry to wash the shirt. McCarty would go on to win four Cups with the Red Wings. Craig passed away from a rare form of bone marrow cancer in November 1999. They were, in many ways, inseparable. So, I think of that moment every year when the families get to meet with the players and staff of the winning team.