Mayor Gets Her Wish: Montreal Defeats Tampa Bay Lightning Monday To Extend Stanley Cup Series With Bolts Getting Chance To Clinch Cup In Tampa Wednesday
By Alan Snel of LVSportsBiz.com
Well, I guess Tampa Mayor Jane Castor got her wish.
Castor said she wants the Tampa Bay Lightning to clinch the Stanley Cup championship in Tampa, so it would be OK for Montreal to win Game 4 to force a Game 5 at Amalie Arena in Tampa on Wednesday.
“What we would like is for the Lightning to take it a little bit easy, to give the Canadiens just the smallest break, allow them to win one at home, and then bring it back to the Amalie Arena for the final and the winning of the Stanley Cup,” Castor said.
Well, Montreal did extend the series Monday night.
The Canadiens defeated Tampa, 3-2, in overtime at the Bell Centre to cut the Lightning’s series lead to 3-1 and force a Game 5 in two days.
The Lightning won the Cup last season in the COVID-19 pandemic bubble in Edmonton in front of no fans.
In Tampa for this season’s playoffs, they’ve had more than 16,000 fans in previous playoff games.
The Vegas Golden Knights were hoping to be in the Cup Final, but Montreal knocked out the VGK in the NHL semifinals.
The Canadiens’ Josh Anderson scored two goals for Montreal, including the game-winner in OT to force Game 5.
The Lightning’s Pat Maroon had tied the game at 2-2 with less than seven minutes left in period three.
Castor probably has more things on her mind than the Lightning possibly clinching the Cup on home ice Wednesday. There’s Tropical Storm Elsa heading to Florida and Tampa.
If the Lightning lose Game 5 and the series, Castor might have another type of storm on her hands.
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