Canadiens Survive Shots on Goal Imbalance, Advance Past Lightning in Game 7

The Canadiens are moving on in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

After an absolute battle of a Game 7, Montreal is headed to the second round of the postseason for the first time since 2020—thanks to a hard-earned, 2–1 victory over the Lightning.

The story of this one? Shots on goal … or lack thereof. Despite being outshot by Tampa Bay 28 to 9(!) over 60 minutes—and failing to tally a shot on goal in a playoff period for the first time in team history—the Canadiens were able to weather the storm thanks to a 28-save performance from Jakob Dobeš. In total, the 24-year-old goalie posted a .966 save percentage on 29 shots.

What Montreal was also able to do was squeak two of its nine shots on net past Vezina Trophy favorite Andrei Vasilevskiy. Their two goals came from forwards Nick Suzuki and Alex Newhook, the former of whom is the Canadiens’ team captain and netted his first goal of the 2025-26 postseason.

“It’s been a hard series,” Suzuki, who admitted that their second period performance was the Canadiens’ worst of the playoffs, told TNT after the game. “Gotta give them a lot of credit. they made it super difficult for us ... It was just a great battle all series.”

Montreal will now move on to face the Sabres in the second round, with their series set to begin in Buffalo on Wednesday, May 6.

As for the Lightning, this marks the fourth consecutive season in which they've failed to advance past the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Missed any of the game? Check out Sports Illustrated's live score updates, analysis and more from the contest below.

Canadiens 2 – Lightning 1: Montreal advances to second round of Stanley Cup playoffs

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