Montreal Beats Tampa Bay to Stay Alive in Stanley Cup Finals

The Montreal Canadiens faced elimination and a sweep at the hands of the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Finals on July 5th in Montreal. Realistically, the Lightning are all but assured of winning the Cup; only the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs have come back from a 3-0 deficit in the Finals to win the Stanley Cup (they beat the Detroit Red Wings in that one). But, the up and coming Canadiens, who were the lowest seed in the playoffs, won’t be the first team to get swept in the Finals since the Red Wings swept the Washington Capitals in 1998.

That’s because Montreal picked up a 3-2 victory in overtime in Game 4, thanks to Josh Anderson’s second goal of the game at 3:57 of the overtime period. Cole Caulfield assisted on both of Anderson’s goals. Carey Price had 32 saves for Montreal. The game was played in Montreal, so the home fans got to see one victory, anyway.

Someone else was pleased as well. Before the game, Tampa Mayor Jane Castor suggested that the Lightning might want to lose this one so they could win the Cup at home. The Lightning are the defending Stanley Cup champions, but due to Covid-19, all of last years playoff games were held in Canada and the Lightning beat the Dallas Stars in Edmonton in the Finals. The Lightning, of course didn’t lay down in the game; they lost in overtime and took 34 shots on goal, but they will get a chance to win at home in Game 5 (on July 7th) or Game 7 if it goes that far.