Martin St. Louis keeps Canadiens grounded despite series advantage

The Montreal Canadiens have taken control of their Stanley Cup playoff series, but within the team's environment, they are far from celebrating. It would have been surprising if they were celebrating, given that it took overtime to determine the outcome of each game.

"Nothing is done yet. The line is thin," Martin St. Louis said, after winning 3-2 against the Tampa Bay Lightning at the Bell Centre on Friday. "We could be leading three [wins] to zero, or we could be losing three [wins] to zero."

The Habs head coach encouraged himself by saying that on Friday night his team probably delivered its best performance of the series.

"We weren't perfect, but it was probably our best 60 minutes. I think it's the game where we were able to keep the momentum the longest," he said.

Winger Zachary Bolduc noted that the team has confidence in its abilities at this point in the playoffs and that its style of play will remain the same.

"We are confident in that kind of situation. It's certain that the stakes get higher, that we may grip our sticks a little tighter, but our game and our goal remain the same," Bolduc said.

Canadiens host Lightning again Sunday at Bell Centre for Game 4

Obviously, an overtime period played five-on-five is not comparable to regular-season ones, where a three-on-three confrontation is favored.

Nevertheless, somewhere deep inside them, St. Louis' men must have developed a certain resistance to adversity in recent months. The Habs had 14 overtime wins this season. Not to mention their 26 comeback victories, including 10 in the third period.

"I don't know if it's related, but I know that during the season, we had a lot of confidence when we went into overtime," Bolduc added. "We had no doubt that we could win."

Montreal hosts Tampa Bay again at the Bell Centre on Sunday, April 26 at 7 p.m. ET, in Game 4 of Round 1 of the NHL playoffs.