Stanley Cup final: Lightning-Canadiens Game 2 live updates

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Anthony Cirelli, Blake Coleman and Ondrej Palat scored goals, and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 42 saves as the Lightning beat the Canadiens 3-1 in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup final Wednesday at Amalie Arena.

With the win, a franchise-record fifth straight on home ice, Tampa Bay moved to within two victories of its second straight Stanley Cup championship.

Teams that go ahead 2-0 in a best-of-seven Cup final have won more than 90 percent of the time.

Here’s how it happened:

Third period

Barclay Goodrow wrist shot saved by Carey Price

Blake Coleman wrister saved by Price

Tyler Johnson wrist shot saved by Price

Joel Edmundson wrist shot saved Andrei Vasilevskiy

Ondrej Palat wrist shot saved by Price

Price stops Goodrow from the slot

Jesperi Kotkaniemi wrist shot saved by Vasilevskiy

Artturi Lehkonen shot blocked by Victor Hedman

Edmundson wrist shot saved by Vasilevskiy

Wraparound attempt by Yanni Gourde doesn’t get past Price

Vasilevskiy stops Suzuki backhand shot low in the left circle

Vasilevskiy makes a save on Tyler Toffoli

Kucherov misses the net on a partial breakaway

Kucherov redirection goes wide

Sergachev in pain as he leaves the ice after being cross-checked from behind

Danault’s shot from the right circle blocked by Hedman

LIGHTNING GOAL! Joel Edmundson passes off the end boards behind the Canadiens net right to Ondrej Palat, who shoots of Carey Price’s skate into the net. Jeff Petry was calling for a reverse but expected the puck in the corner. Lightning 3, Canadiens 1.

Canadiens pull Price for an extra attacker with less than two minutes remaining

Puck goes off the end boards out to Perry in front of the net, but Vasilevskiy makes the save

Vasilevskiy stops Caufield shot from the left point

(Lightning win 3-1)

Second period

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The Canadiens will carry over 1:32 of power-play time from the first period

Nick Suzuki wrist shot saved by Vasilevskiy

Cole Caufield shot blocked by Yanni Gourde

Josh Anderson backhand shot saved by Vasilevskiy

Joel Edmundson shot blocked by Anthony Cirelli

Shea Weber shot blocked by Barclay Goodrow

Gourde shot wide of the net

Erik Cernak shot gloved by Carey Price

LIGHTNING GOAL! Anthony Cirelli scores under Price’s right arm with a shot from the right point, just inside the blue line. It was only Tampa Bay’s second shot in the previous 15-1/2 minutes. Lightning 1, Canadiens 0.

Vasilevskiy makes a right pad on Jeff Petry shot from the right point

Hedman blocks Armia shot

Tyler Johnson blocks Kotkaniemi shot from above the right circle. Johnson in obvious pain on the bench

Jeff Petry shot saved by Vasilevskiy

Eric Staal wrist shot saved by Vasilevskiy

Vasilevskiy gloves Shea Weber shot

Sergachev penalized for interfering with Lehkonen

Johnson, who had gone to the locker room, is back on the Lightning bench

CANADIENS GOAL: Suzuki scores on the power play. Backhand shot from above the circles deflects off McDonagh’s stick and goes through Vasilevskiy’s legs with Perry in front of the net. Lightning 1, Canadiens 1.

Vasilevskiy makes a save on Armia from the slot after a Hedman turnover in his own zone

Kucherov shot from the high slot is blocked

Joseph hit in the nose with a high stick from McDonagh

Vasilevskiy makes a skate save on Gallagher redirect of Petry shot from the right point

Vasilevskiy makes save on Josh Anderson as he makes a power move to the net

Armia penalized for high-sticking Coleman

Price makes save on Price shot from the hashmarks

Stamkos shot saved by Price, and Point can’t get a stick on the rebound with an open net in front of him

Canadiens clear the puck

Suzuki clears

Stamkos pass deflected, and Suzuki clears the zone

Price tries to clear the puck, and it deflects off Kucherov

Maroon shot deflected by Edmundson and saved by Price

Canadiens kill the penalty

LIGHTNING GOAL! A diving Blake Coleman scores with 0.3 points remaining. Goodrow chips the puck past Chiarot at the blue line, then sends a backhand pass through the slot to Coleman. Lightning 2, Canadiens 1.

(Lightning lead 2-1 after two periods)

First period

Barclay Goodrow backhand shot goes off the side of the net

Carey Price deflects Erik Cernak shot from the top right circle wide of the net

Jan Rutta shot from the right circle hits Shea Weber

Andrei Vasilevskiy makes a poke check to break up a Nick Suzuki breakaway attempt as Suzuki tried to go to his backhand. Joel Edmundson set up the opportunity with a stretch pass from the Montreal zone.

Brayden Point misses the net from in front

Mikhail Sergachev shot from the left point blocked by Brendan Gallagher

Barclay Goodrow shot blocked from low in the left circle by Jesperi Kotkaniemi

Lightning go on the power play early as Jeff Petry trips Brayden Point

Anthony Cirelli takes Alex Killorn’s spot down low

Shea Weber clears the puck out of the zone

Pass eludes Cirelli, and the Canadiens send the puck back down the ice

Another Canadiens clear

Nick Suzuki sends the puck down the boards, and the Canadiens kill the penalty

Vasilevskiy makes a save on Tyler Toffoli from the edge of the crease

Paul Byron penalized for slashing Steven Stamkos low in the slot after a Montreal turnover

Price stops Kucherov shot from the right circle

Point shoots wide from the slot

Hedman shot misses wide

Kucherov shot blocked

Lehkonen sends the puck out of the zone

Kucherov one-timer from the right circle stopped by Price

Lightning now 0-for-2 on the power play. Two shots on their latest chance with the man-advantage

Joel Armia shoots from the sideboards. The puck deflects into the crease and is covered by Vasilevskiy

Erik Gustaffson shot from the left point saved by Vasilevskiy

Tyler Johnson takes a shift on the fourth line with a faceoff in the Lightning zone

Toffoli shot from the right circle off the rush blocked by Vasilevskiy

Suzuki shot from the right circle on a 2-on-1 saved by Vasilevskiy

Weber steers Kucherov redirect high of the net

Price with a blocker save on Sergachev

Weber blocks Jan Rutta shot from the right point

Vasilevskiy sticks aside Byron shot from the left point

Cernak and Byron receive coincidental roughing minors, so we’ll have 4-on-4 play for two minutes

That didn’t last long. Canadiens get a four-minute 4-on-3 power play as McDonagh is penalized for high-sticking Phillip Danault

Toffoli redirect from down low misses the net

Goodrow clears the puck

Hedman blocks a shot from the right circle

Suzuki shot from the right side saved by Vasilevskiy

Goodrow clears the puck

Vasilevskiy stops Kotkaniemi shot

Cirelli shorthanded shot from the left circle blocked out of play

Cernak and Byron are out of the box, so Canadiens now have a 5-on-4 power play

(No score after one period)

Pregame scouting report

The Canadiens entered the Stanley Cup final with a reputation for shutting down opponents’ top players, a distinction they earned while defeating the Maple Leafs, Jets and Golden Knights in the first three rounds.

Goaltender Carey Price had allowed two goals or fewer in eight of his previous nine games, and Montreal’s penalty-killing unit had not given up a power-play goal in an NHL playoff-record 13 consecutive games.

Well, so much for that.

The Lightning’s top line of Brayden Point, Nikita Kucherov and Ondrej Palat combined for seven points in Monday’s 5-1 victory in Game 1. Kucherov had two goals and an assist, Point handed out three assists and Palat assisted on Erik Cernak’s opening goal.

Tampa Bay put more pucks behind Price than the Canadiens goaltender had allowed in any game this postseason, and Steven Stamkos scored on the power play, ending Montreal’s penalty-killing streak at 32.

But while the defending champion Lightning were favored over a Canadiens team that had the fewest regular-season points of any team in the playoff field, not every game in the series can be expected to be that easy.

Montreal, which plays a similar tight-checking, counter-attacking style to the one the Islanders used to extend Tampa Bay to seven games in the semifinals, will be desperate for a win in Game 2 tonight at Amalie Arena to avoid returning home for Games 3-4 in an 0-2 hole.

Lightning second-line wing Alex Killorn, who also plays on the top power-play unit and is part of the Bolts’ penalty kill, is out with an undisclosed injury after blocking a shot in Game 1. Meanwhile, the Canadiens could get fourth-line forward Joel Armia back in the lineup. Armia was removed from the COVID-19 protocol list Monday.

The Lightning will need to match the Canadiens’ intensity while continuing to do the things they did so well in Game 1: controlling the neutral zone, managing the puck, putting pucks on net, getting traffic in front of Price and playing as a five-man unit in all areas of the ice.

Do that, and they’ll move to within two wins of becoming just the second team in the salary-cap era to repeat as Stanley Cup champions.

Follow our live updates, starting at 8 p.m., as Tampa Bay aims to grab a two-game lead in the series in front of a full-capacity crowd at Amalie Arena. Teams that take a 2-0 lead in a best-of-seven Cup final have won more than 90 percent (46 of 51) of the time.

Gameday scene

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