Canadiens shockingly steal Game 7 vs. Lightning

When it comes to winning in the Stanley Cup playoffs, nobody really cares how you do it. They just care that you find a way to do it. 

That is especially true when it comes to winning a Game 7 on the road. 

Style points? Do not matter.

Carrying the play? Nobody cares.

Getting more shots on goal? Sometimes completely irrelevant. 

All that matters is finding a way to finish with more goals on the scoreboard, whether it is pretty or not. 

The Montreal Canadiens found a way to do exactly that on Sunday, stealing Game 7 from the Tampa Bay Lightning in a shocking 2-1 win that sends them into the second round, where they will face the Buffalo Sabres.

Goaltending, puck luck send Canadiens to Game 7 win

While Montreal proved its worthiness in the first six games of the series and outplayed Tampa Bay for large stretches of the series, that was not the case on Sunday.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that the Lightning were the better team in Game 7, carried the play for most of the evening and completely tilted the ice in their favor.

We know this is probably true because they outshot Montreal by a 29-9 margin. The puck was constantly around the Canadiens' net while Montreal was unable to generate any consistent offensive zone time the entire game. The ice was tilted so much that the Canadiens did not record a single shot on goal in the entire second period, and attempted just five shots overall in that frame. 

The nine shots on goal set an NHL record for the fewest shots ever in a Stanley Cup Playoff win, and it's not like their two goals were works of art. 

Nick Suzuki opened the score by deflecting a shot from 30 feet out in front of Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy. 

Alex Newhook scored the game-winner on a fluky bounce late in the third period, knocking a bouncing puck in off Vasilevskiy's backside from below the goal line.