The Montreal Canadiens and Tampa Bay Lightning will take to the ice tonight in Game 6 of their NHL Playoffs series. The game is scheduled for an 7:00 p.m. start time and it will be televised nationally on the NBC Sports Network. Currently the betting odds for the game have the Lightning favored to close out the series with a victory in this one.
Montreal dropped the first three games of this series, starting in a pretty serious hole. Now they've won back-to-back games and a win tonight would give them a historical chance. The Habs are trying to become just the fifth team in NHL history to overcome a 3-0 deficit to win a postseason series.
Tampa Bay was the best team in the league in home games this season, so they will look to draw upon that past success in this one tonight.
But they'll have to play better on both ends of the ice for that to happen. They'll also have to come ready to play from the opening puck drop as Montreal will be playing with a heightened sense or urgency. In the last game in Tampa Bay, Montreal opened with two first period goals. The Habs added three more in the second period, putting the game on ice — for lack of a better term. Montreal was out-playing Tampa Bay in every facet of the game and made it count, helping themselves crawl back into the series.
Steven Stamkos had a very important message for his team heading into this game tonight: "Just don't play scared. Don't be afraid to lose." The Lightning have some nice veteran leadership, which could help them in this game tonight. Certainly the Lightning don't want to head back to Canada with a winner-take-all game against the Canadiens, making tonight's game (especially at home) that much more important.
But the Habs have arguably the best goalie in the game, when he's playing well, in Carey Price. Tonight Montreal will need him to be his normal self in between the pipes. If he plays to that level, the Canadiens will force a seventh game.
Free Pick: Montreal
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