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Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final was played on Monday, but horrible news out of Michigan in the morning pushed the game into the background for most of the day as Columbus Blue Jackets netminder Matiss Kivlenieks succumbed to his injuries on Sunday night and passed away at the young age of 24.
Kivlenieks was in Michigan to get in some extra work with goaltending coach Manny Legace and fellow Blue Jackets netminder Elvis Merzlikins.
Kivlenieks was in a hot tub, watching the fireworks on Independence Day when a firework mortar went awry and struck him in the chest, killing him.[[ad:athena]]
Our condolences go out to the Kivlenieks family as well as all his teammates with the Blue Jackets. The 24-year-old will be missed.
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MONTREAL 3 TAMPA BAY 2 (Overtime) (Tampa Bay leads the best-of-seven Stanley Cup Final 3-1)
Josh Anderson’s second goal of the game was the overtime winner as the Montreal Canadiens upset the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final. The Canadiens avoided being swept by the Lightning who won the first three games of the series. It would have been only the second time in Montreal’s Stanley Cup Final history that they would have been swept but they avoided joining the 1953 team who lost to the Detroit Red Wings in four straight.
It was a raucous crowd in Montreal, although only 3,500 were allowed in the Bell Centre due to the pandemic, but Anderson sent most of them home happy as the series will go back to Tampa for Game 5.
Carey Price was outstanding for Montreal as turned aside 32-of-34 shots for the victory. Price had been struggling for the first three games of the series and some thought that the Canadiens should turn to backup Jake Allen for Game 4 but coach Dominique Ducharme quickly shut down that theory over the weekend, claiming that Price would be between the pipes on Monday night.
Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped only 18 shots in taking the loss but could not be faulted on any of the Montreal goals.
The Lightning dominated the play in the first period as they had the first seven scoring chances. Price was sensational, reminiscent of his play in the three previous rounds as he turned aside all 12 shots that came his way.
The Canadiens took their first lead of the series on their first scoring chance as Nick Suzuki rounded the net and found Anderson who quickly deposited the puck past Vasilevskiy and into the net.
The Canadiens managed to hold onto the lead the rest of the period despite a Tampa Bay power play in the final two minutes. Brayden Point came the closest to scoring as he banged one off the post from the slot but the Lightning were unable to light the lamp and the Canadiens led 1-0 after the opening period. It got chippy at the end of the first period as both Pat Maroon and Joel Edmundson took unsportsmanlike penalties.
The Canadiens came out on fire in the second period and took the game to the Lightning for perhaps the only time in the contest. But it was Tampa Bay scoring the lone goal of the period as Ryan McDonagh did yeoman’s work, starting the play by keeping the puck in the Montreal end at the blueline and then setting up Barclay Goodrow with a gorgeous behind the back pass, allowing Goodrow to score into the yawning net to even the score at 1. The Habs outshot Tampa Bay 9-8 in the second period.
The third period belonged to Tampa Bay as far as the edge in play was concerned but it was Montreal who took a 2-1 lead as defenseman Alexander Romanov’s point shot eluded the screened Vasilevskiy. It was a great screen by Artturi Lehkonen, not allowing Vasilevskiy to see the puck. Romanov was playing for the first time since June 14, along with his defense partner Brett Kulak and the move paid off big time for the Canadiens.
But Tampa Bay came back to tie it once again as Pat Maroon’s second of the post-season off an outstanding pass from teammate Mathieu Joseph evened the score at 2.
The Lightning outshot 10-5 in the third, giving them a 30-19 edge after regulation play.
The Canadiens dug themselves into a hole late in the period when Shea Weber was dinged with a double-minor for high-sticking (and drawing blood) on Ondrej Palat with 1:01 left in the period. While Tampa Bay did not score, they had a 2:59 power play to start the first overtime.
But the Canadiens managed to kill off the penalty and actually had the best scoring chance during their penalty kill as Vasilevskiy was forced to make a great save off Nick Suzuki who tried to chip it over the Tampa Bay netminder.
Anderson’s winner came only 56 seconds after Weber’s penalty expired as he knocked the puck past Vasilevskiy to give Montreal the win.
Cole Caufield picked up an assist on both Anderson goals.
Ben Chiarot had nine hits. Tampa Bay outhit Montreal 36-35.
Blake Coleman led both sides with five shots on goal.
The Lightning had five power plays but were unable to score while Montreal was scoreless on their only attempt.
Montreal is now 6-1 in overtime in the 2021 Stanley Cup playoffs.
NIGHTLY LEADERS
Goals
Josh Anderson – 2
Barclay Goodrow – 1
Pat Maroon - 1
Assists
Cole Caufield – 2
Nick Suzuki – 1
Ryan McDonagh – 1
Blake Coleman – 1
Jake Evans – 1
Tyler Johnson – 1
Mathieu Joseph - 1
Shots on Goal
Blake Coleman - 5
Hits
Ben Chiarot – 9
Ondrej Palat – 5
Barclay Goodrow – 5
Blake Coleman – 5
Erik Cernak - 5
Penalty Minutes
Brayden Point – 4
Shea Weber – 4
Joel Edmundson - 4
