Canadiens beat Lightning, advance to second round

What a thrilling end to the first round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

With a strange, yet hard-fought win in Game 7 of the Atlantic Division Semifinals, the Montreal Canadiens eliminated the Tampa Bay Lightning, punching their ticket to the second round.

How the Canadiens did it will go down in history, but not in the best way. The visitors were brutally outshot from the beginning of the game, including being held shotless in the second period. It was the first time the Habs had ever failed to put a shot on goal in a period in the postseason in franchise history. Yet, thanks to captain Nick Suzuki’s first goal of the series and great hand-eye coordination from Alex Newhook, Montreal managed to pull out a 2-1 win in enemy territory.

The Canadiens ended up with just nine shots on goal, the fewest for the team in a winning effort in the postseason, ever. The true hero, as he was a number of times during the series, was Jakub Dobes. The young netminder managed to outplay Vezina Trophy winner Andrei Vasilevskiy multiple times in the round, capping things off with a 28-save performance on Sunday night.

For the Canadiens, it’s their first playoff series win since 2021, and their first in a “normal” postseason since 2015. The Lightning have now been knocked out in the opening round in each of the past four years. Tampa hasn’t won a series since making it to three straight Stanley Cup Finals.

As a reward, the Canadiens will take on the Atlantic Division champion Buffalo Sabres in Round 2. Game 1 in Western New York is set for Wednesday night.