Dominic James (17) faces off against Jake Evans in the third period of Game 5 in the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs first round game between the Tampa Bay Lightning and Montreal Canadiens. By Seán Kinane / WMNF News (29 Apr. 2026).
The Tampa Bay Lightning are one game away from elimination after losing another close game at home Wednesday night. The Bolts lost to the Montreal Canadiens, 3 to 2 after a tie-breaking goal early in the third period.
After the game, Lightning head coach Jon Cooper said his team missed opportunities.
“[Defenseman Darren] Raddysh hits the post. An open net puck just bounces over [forward Nikita Kucherov’s] stick. And like 40 seconds later and the same basically end back end and it’s in our net,” Cooper said. “And so, you just feel like it was a little deflating at that point, you know, at the start of the period for that to happen. But I thought we gave ourselves chances to score. Can we do some things better? There’s no question.”
Montreal’s head coach is Martin St. Louis, the third leading scorer in Tampa Bay Lightning history.
After the game, he praised the work by rookie goalie Jakub Dobes and others. Especially during a long stretch at the end when the Lightning had an extra skater after pulling their goalie.
“They go and execute big block shots. Dobes was awesome. You know, it’s not an easy team to go, you know, that long 6-on-5 and I thought we managed it pretty well. And it wasn’t one thing. I think it was just collectively found a way to keep it out of our net,” St. Louis told reporters.
Game six is Friday in Montreal. If the Bolts lose, their season is over. If they win, the teams will play a deciding Game 7 on Sunday in Tampa.