Steven Stamkos Revival, Lightning Offense Too Much for Inept Canadiens

Somewhere recently, it was written about Steven Stamkos and his Tampa Bay Lightning:

"

If there was one encouraging sign for Tampa Bay Saturday, it was that Stamkos scored a third-period goal, his second marker of the series, which also extended his series points streak to four games. If Stamkos really is starting to heat up again, the Lightning still have a better shot than Montreal of advancing to the next round.

"

To thank the Academy...

In all seriousness, I need no credit for predicting the Lightning would close out the Habs in Game 6, as they did 4-1 on Tuesday night at Amalie Arena, if Stamkos carried over the momentum from his recent point streak with a big game. Give all the credit to Stamkos, who has really shown what a leader is all about in these playoffs.

Let me explain: Hockey is one of the streakiest of all major sports. Unlike other sports, if a hockey forward doesn't score, it's so much easier to criticize him. A good hitter in baseball can go 4-for-4 in a World Series game, as Colorado's Matt Holliday did in 2007 for the Rockies at Fenway Park in Game 2 against the Red Sox, but if your team can score only one run in a 2-1 loss, you don't get any credit.

What really makes for leadership in hockey is something that, in my view anyway, is harder to measure by advanced stats alone. Stamkos is Exhibit A on this.

Chris O'Meara/Associated Press

He entered Game 6 with just two goals in the playoffs, in 12 games, well below his 2014-15 regular-season average of a goal in better than one of every two games (43 in 82). It's just easier to shoot a basketball, for instance, through a 10-foot-high unguarded cylinder than it is to put a puck past a defending goalie and up to five other defending players.

That is why goals such as the one Stamkos scored in Game 6, in the second period with his team up by a precarious 1-0 lead, are that much more impressive than your typical NBA playoff shot.

When the pressure was highest, Stamkos delivered, as shown here in this Twitter GIF snapshot from @myregularface:

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GIF: Stamkos makes it 2-0 pic.twitter.com/xAfWrVEx2P

— Stephanie Vail (@myregularface) May 13, 2015"

After many "What's wrong with Steven Stamkos?" stories entering this series, Stamkos finished with at least one point in each of the final five games. This was his first postseason goal at home, however, and I want to put a fine point on this:

Talk to many longtime players, and they'll tell you it's easier to play on the road in the playoffs. The pressure on the home team is so intense that many players seem to inhabit their nerve-wracked fans and, well, choke. So while it wasn't a shock that Stamkos scored a couple of goals in Montreal, it showed his mettle that he could score arguably the biggest goal of Game 6 in front of the home folks who probably were more than a little nervous coming in that Carey Price would send this thing back to Montreal.

"We didn't panic," Stamkos told NBC's Pierre McGuire after the game on the ice. "We played pretty decent in the first three games, and we knew they were going to push back. That was probably the best game we've played all playoffs. This was our Game 7 tonight. This was our biggest game of the playoffs tonight, and we responded."

There is no more worry about Montreal in Tampa. It's on now to face the winner of the Rangers-Capitals Game 7 on Wednesday night. If the Rangers win, the Lightning will start the series at Madison Square Garden. If the Caps win, the series starts at Amalie Arena.

With the Tampa media all over him—along with much of the national hockey media, which tends to focus more on Canadian-born stars such as Stamkos—he faced the critics with professionalism and then flipped the script on them.

Chris O'Meara/Associated Press

Montreal's top forwards, meanwhile, went further into the tank as the series went on. There is no bigger culprit than Tomas Plekanec, who never got it going in these playoffs and saved his worst for last.

Plekanec took too long to get off a shot toward a partially open net in the first period, which allowed Ben Bishop to slide over just enough to make a save in a scoreless game. Then, a few minutes later, Plekanec muffed a clear-out attempt in front of Price, which led to Nikita Kucherov's gorgeous redirect past Price for a 1-0 lead.

Once Bishop had a lead, it was checkmate for the Habs.

Price got most of the headlines into and entering this series. But Bishop outplayed him in the biggest game. More should be made of that in the coming days.

For all of the attention Price gets, it's fair, isn't it, to point out: He has yet to make it to a Stanley Cup Final. Yes, he had a great regular season, but was he truly great in the playoffs? 

No.

Price allowed six goals in Game 2 in a 6-2 loss, when his team arguably needed him the most. Many Price apologists have argued the game wasn't his fault, that four of Tampa Bay's goals came on the power play and that he was abandoned by his defense. Fair enough, but if goalies want to be classified as true greats, they need to overcome on nights like that. Price didn't. He wasn't the reason why they lost, perhaps, but he wasn't the reason they won, either.

Price did rally to help get his team back in the series, but 3-0 is too tough a deficit to overcome. At least, it has been in all but five instances in NHL history.

Phelan M. Ebenhack/Associated Press

But it's also true that Price wasn't the big reason why Montreal lost the series. The anemic play of the Habs forwards and a mediocre showing from offensive D-man P.K. Subban were the bigger problems.

Montreal's top forwards never showed up when it really mattered. Steven Stamkos did.

That's why the Lightning have a Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final to look toward. And it's why the Canadiens forwards can start making tee times.

Much to the delight of some media people from Canada, apparently. Look at what Globe and Mail sports columnist Cathal Kelly tweeted to Habs fans right after the loss:

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God, I am almost ashamed at how much the pain of Montreal Canadiens' fans gives me joy. Almost.

— cathalkelly (@cathalkelly) May 13, 2015"

Ouch. 

Just for good measure, longtime Boston Globe reporter Kevin "Moose" Dupont, a frequent provocateur of Habs fans, tweeted out this, in reference to Montreal's last Stanley Cup win in 1993, which arose from a controversial penalty on Los Angeles' Marty McSorley.

"

If not for McSorley's cheating stick, the Habs drought could be even longer.

— Kevin Paul Dupont (@GlobeKPD) May 13, 2015"

This one will hurt for a while in Montreal. This franchise was so used to winning it all for so long. But it has been 22 years since a Canadian team, or a Canadiens team, won the Stanley Cup. With Price in net, the long wait might be over this year, they thought.

Non. The wait continues in Montreal, while the Lightning are moving on.