The Lightning did everything they needed to do to win Sunday night and cut the series lead down to 2-1. For the first time in the series they were not thoroughly outplayed and they deserved to win. They, however, did not win and now face a 3-0 series deficit.
The game started off horribly, as Montreal got on the board just eleven seconds in to take a 1-0 lead. the rest of the game however, would be controlled by the Bolts. Their hard work finally got them a tie game early in the second, off the stick of Ondrej Palat.
Then halfway through the second, it happened. Ondrej Palat put another one in the net, seemingly putting Tampa up 2-1 and giving what could be a momentum changing goal for the entire series. The lead referee however, ruled the goal off, citing goaltender interference. Replay showed very clearly the call was atrocious, as nothing even close to resembling goalie interference took place. But the game remained tied due to the refs incompetence. Predictably, just a few moments later Montreal took a 2-1 lead of their own. Early in the 3rd, they stretched it to 3-1.
The Bolts cut the lead to 3-2 in the 3rd and made a valiant attempt to tie it, even hitting a couple posts, but luck was not on their side this night, and they now face a sweep directly in the eyes.
175 teams have faced a 3-0 series deficit in NHL history, and only 3 have come back to win the series, so the odds are not in the Bolts favor. Not only that, but the effort and energy that would need to be extolled to make such a comeback would virtually guarantee the Bolts would be too worn down to legitimately win in the second round. So the season is all but over. Right now I am just hoping for a win tomorrow to get one more home game out of this season.
No comments:
Post a Comment
comments with vulgar language, racist language, personal attacks, or anything offensive will be deleted.