Stanley Cup Final: Montreal Canadiens can draw inspiration from both recent and distant past
Past omens look pretty good for the Montreal Canadiens when it comes to the 2021 Stanley Cup Final.
It is Game 2 of the 2021 NHL Stanley Cup Final tonight (8:00 p.m. ET) and the Montreal Canadiens will be looking to even the series after being blown out in a 5-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 1.
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Tampa showed on Monday exactly why they are on the cusp of winning back-to-back Stanley Cups, and they proved too much to handle for the Habs in every single department at Amalie Arena.
However, for those Canadiens fans on the hunt for some hope ahead of Game 2 later, there are plenty of places to look – both in the recent past and in the franchise’s storied history.
For starters, the Habs may of won Game 1 against the Toronto Maple Leafs in the First Round of this year’s Playoffs, but they proceeded to drop three straight before eventually winning in seven.
Montreal Canadiens have good omens on their side ahead of Game 2
Going back to Game 1 omens, though, and the Canadiens lost the first game of the semifinal to the Vegas Golden Knights 4-1, which could have been a crushing blow but, instead, this current vintage used that adversity to propel themselves to new heights and they got the job done against a team many expected to win it all this season.
The Canadiens are well-versed when it comes to having to bounce back having pulled even in Game 2 in each of their last four Stanley Cup Final appearances (1993, 1989, 1986, 1979), outscoring their opponents 16-8 in those contests.
That streak includes the last time they won the Stanley Cup in 1993, with Montreal dropping game 1 4-1 to the Los Angeles Kings – who had Wayne Gretzky on the roster – before winning the next four games to win the cup in five.
Okay, so these are different times and the Lightning are an absolute juggernaut, so we are in no way predicting that the Canadiens are going to all of a sudden turn this series on its head and complete what would be a stunning gentlemen’s sweep.
But, it is important to remember that this team have shown an abundance of character and grit to overcome adversity in these Playoffs already, and the fact that they have got the jitters out of the way will only help their cause in Game 2.
Of course, omens alone won’t help the Habs to even this series and they will have to right a lot of wrongs from Game 1, including doing a better job of helping out goaltender Carey Price who had to deal with a constant stream of traffic in front of the net, they will need to handle the puck a lot better, the matchup assignments will need to be tweaked and, more importantly, they have to fire more rubber at Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy after recording 19 shots on goal in Game 1, including just five in the third period.
Next. Kucherov was clear Game 1 MVP. dark
If the Montreal Canadiens can tick those boxes, do the little things right and basically just play a lot better in every aspect than they did in Game 1, then there is every chance that they could return to Canada having tied this series, but history is certainly on their side when it comes to bouncing back in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final.