2021 Stanley Cup Final: 3 Storylines to watch in Game 2 between Habs, Bolts
Game 2 of the 2021 NHL Stanley Cup Final has some compelling narratives at play.
We’re nearly set for Game 2 of the 2021 NHL Stanley Cup Final, and the Tampa Bay Lightning will be hoping to take a 2-0 series lead over the Montreal Canadiens after winning Game 1 on Monday.
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They absolutely ran the Habs out of the building at Amalie Arena, finding a way to beat the previously unbeatable Carey Price by setting up screens and getting traffic to the net, while Nikita Kucherov‘s postseason legacy continued to grow with a three-point night (2 G, 1 A).
Tampa also got big contributions from up and down the lineup as well as a big night from goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy, and they look every inch the juggernaut that won the Stanley Cup inside The Bubble last year.
Montreal, on the other hand, looked blown away by the moment and they got away from the style of hockey that made them such a hard team to play against this postseason, abandoning the ethos that led them here in the first place.
They failed to protect Price in and around the crease, they struggled to generate any kind of offense, they couldn’t control or keep hold of the puck and the hustle and physical approach that just wore teams down in the previous three rounds just wasn’t there.
That will have to change if the Habs are to head back to Canada on Friday with this series split, and there will be some interesting storylines worth keeping an eye on at Amalie Arena tonight.
3 most compelling storylines to watch in Game 2 between Habs and Bolts
3. How big a miss will Alex Killorn be?
It is testament to Tampa Bay’s insane depth up and down the lineup that gritty forward Alex Killorn slips under the radar, despite his sheer importance to this team. He has been a core member of this roster for a while now, and he played a key role in last year’s championship success.
He has also been very important to the Bolts so far this postseason, recording 17 points (8 G, 9 A), while he plays big 5-on-5 minutes on the second-line with Steven Stamkos and Anthony Cirelli, he plays on the power play and he kills penalties too.
Therefore, there was some level of panic when the 31-year-old left Game 1 with an undisclosed injury after blocking a shot with his left leg in the second period, and he will be a huge loss for the Bolts in Game 2 tonight.
It remains to be seen who takes Killorn’s place on the second-line but, whoever that is, they will need to be ready to tick a lot of boxes in order to fill the void left by Killorn, who really does everything for this Lightning team.