2021 Stanley Cup Final: 3 Keys to Game 2 as Habs look to even up series

2. Bolts’ dominant third-line

One of the many reasons why the Tampa Bay Lightning are such a juggernaut is because they are loaded up and down the lineup, boasting incredible strength throughout their roster and they can roll four lines on any given night.

They also addressed their fatal flaw which was a lack of toughness, leading to the franchise ending their postseason pain last year by winning the Stanley Cup inside The Bubble, and that blueprint could lead them to go back-to-back.

Two of the players acquired to help make this star-studded team harder to play against were Blake Coleman and Barclay Goodrow, and the two forwards make up the Lightning’s dynamic third-line alongside center Yanni Gourde.

The trio are a dynamic, unstoppable force that can provide secondary scoring while wearing down opponents with their physicality, with Coleman dishing out 11 hits in Game 1 and absolutely battering his opponents.

Coleman also leads all players with seven drawn penalties which is a crucial stat because it gives this deadly Lightning power play more chance to shine, while Gourde is an elite forechecker and all three can handle the puck and play the possession game.

Tampa Bay Head Coach Jon Cooper did an excellent job of matching up that formidable line against the Phillip Danault line in Game 1, which includes the gritty Brendan Gallagher, and they absolutely shut down one of Montreal’s best lines, proving to be a matchup nightmare in more ways than one.

Cooper will likely start the game with that trio out on the ice and if Coleman, Gourde and Goodrow can chip in offensively tonight too, as well as maintain their wrecking ball-like dominance, then it could be another rough night for the Canadiens and that Danault line in particular.