The first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs features 16 teams in eight best-of-7 series, which start Saturday. Today, NHL.com previews the Eastern Conference First Round between the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Montreal Canadiens.<\/p>\n
(3A) Montreal Canadiens vs. (2A) Tampa Bay Lightning<\/p>\n
Canadiens: 48-24-10, 106 points<\/p>\n
Lightning: 50-26-6, 106 points<\/p>\n
Season series: MTL: 2-1-1; TBL: 2-2-0<\/p>\n
Game 1: Sunday at Tampa Bay (time TBD)<\/p>\n
There isn\u2019t much that separates these two Atlantic Division teams, which didn\u2019t have their playoff positioning decided until the penultimate game of the season.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Lightning finished as the No. 2 seed in the Atlantic Division and have home-ice advantage in the best-of-7 series, which starts at Benchmark International Arena on Sunday, by virtue of the regulation wins tiebreaker (40-34). The Canadiens finished as the No. 3 seed following a 4-2 loss at the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Each team had 106 points this season, each staked a claim to first place in the division at different times before the Buffalo Sabres nipped them at the line. Each has game-breaking players. \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
And each is intimately familiar with the other.\u00a0<\/p>\n
After all, the two teams met twice since March 31. Montreal won each of those games by a combined score of 6-2. \u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think anyone is hiding anything from each other,\u201d Tampa Bay coach John Cooper said. \u201cWe just have to get our game in order. That\u2019s it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Canadiens aren\u2019t living off those recent glories either, especially because they lost the two earlier games in the season series by a combined score of 10-5. But they also know there are lessons to be learned there.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s good for us to go back and look over some of that,\u201d Montreal forward Alex Newhook<\/a>\u00a0said. \u201cGames that meant a lot and with the potential of knowing we could play them down the stretch. We know what to expect. We know we are a good team, and we have to do what makes us successful in order to win this series.\u201d<\/p>\n The Canadiens went 2-1-1 against the Lightning this season, with forward Juraj Slafkovsky<\/a> leading the way with seven points (four goals, three assists) in those four games. Goalie Jakub Dobes<\/a>\u00a0went 2-1-0 with a 2.15 goals-against average and .928 save percentage in three starts.<\/p>\n Tampa Bay went 2-2-0 against Montreal. Forward Nikita Kucherov<\/a> was the leading scorer with five points (three goals, two assists) in those four games. Goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy<\/a>\u00a0was 0-2-0 with a 2.07 GAA and .905 save percentage, and Jonas Johansson<\/a> was 2-0-0 with a 2.40 GAA and .919 save percentage.<\/p>\n But this is a new equation, one the Lightning have solved more than the Canadiens in recent memory.<\/p>\n The two teams have faced each other four times in the playoffs, most recently in the 2021 Stanley Cup Final, which Tampa Bay won in five games.\u00a0<\/p>\n But, Montreal has only been to the playoffs once in the past four seasons, a first-round loss to the Washington Capitals last season.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Lightning have reached the playoffs nine straight seasons, losing to the Florida Panthers in the first round in each of the past two seasons. But before that, they won the Stanley Cup twice, in 2020 and 2021, reached another Final in 2022 and an Eastern Conference Final in 2018. \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cEvery year, whether you win or not, regardless of how far you go, you learn a little bit,\u201d Cooper said. \u201cHopefully we are a bit wiser than we were last year.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis, who won the Cup as a player with the Lightning in 2004, knows the challenge his team faces is stiff, but it is one they must overcome to go on a long run.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWhenever you are a young team and you are trying to win your first playoff series, I usually feel that takes you to the next level,\u201d St. Louis said. \u201cWe are going to have to do it against a very good, experienced Tampa team. What a great opportunity that is.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The Lightning have been led once again by Kucherov, who had 130 points (44 goals, 86 assists) in 76 games, the second-highest season point total in his 12-year NHL career (144 points; 44 goals, 100 assists in 2023-24). Forwad Jake Guentzel<\/a>\u00a0is second with an NHL career-high 88 points (38 goals, 50 assists) in 81 games, forward Brandon Hagel<\/a>\u00a0is third with 74 points (36 goals, 38 assists) in 71 games, and defenseman Darren Raddysh<\/a>\u00a0is fourth with an NHL career-high 70 points (22 goals, 48 assists) in 73 games.<\/p>\n Vasilevskiy is 39-15-4 with a 2.31 GAA, .912 save percentage and two shutouts in 58 games (all starts) this season. He leads the NHL in wins and among goaltenders who have played at least 25 games, he ranks second in GAA and is tied for third in save percentage.<\/p>\n Montreal was led this season by captain Nick Suzuki<\/a>, who had an NHL career-high 101 points (29 goals, 72 assists) in 82 games. He is the fifth player in the franchise’s storied history with at least 100 points in a season.<\/p>\n Forward Cole Caufield<\/a>\u00a0was second on the team with 88 points, including a career-high 51 goals. He is the seventh player in Canadiens history to score at least 50 goals in a season, and the first since Stephane Richer<\/a>\u00a0had 51 in 1989-90. Lane Hutson<\/a>, meanwhile, had 78 points (12 goals, 66 assists), and his assists total tied Larry Robinson<\/a> for the most in a season by a Montreal defenseman.<\/p>\n