Tonight at 7:30 p.m. ET, the Montreal Canadiens and Tampa Bay Lightning face-off live from the Amalie Arena for Game 6 of their Eastern Conference Round 2 best-of-seven series as part of the 2015 Stanley Cup playoffs.
Montreal looks to avoid elimination for the third straight game by evening up the series and forcing a Game 7 back at the Bell Centre on Thursday while Tampa Bay hopes to clinch the series on home ice after failing in its last two attempts.
The Lightning took a 3-0 series lead with a 2-1 overtime win in Game 1 and a 6-2 triumph in Game 2, both on the road, and then by winning Game 3 by a 2-1 score at home. On the brink of elimination, the Canadiens won Game 4 on the road by a 6-2 decision and then won Game 5 on home ice to stay alive by a 2-1 margin.
This game can be live streamed for free by clicking here.
With Montreal on the brink of elimination in Game 5 on Saturday, Devante Smith-Pelly notched his first goal of the postseason while P.A. Parenteau lit the lamp late in the third period in what marked the decisive tally of the game and sent the series back to Florida.
Steven Stamkos notched his second marker of the postseason in the loss for Tampa Bay.
Though their opponents still own a 3-2 series edge, the Canadiens realize there's a lot on the line for both clubs entering Game 6.
"There's pressure on both teams," Canadiens left wing Max Pacioretty said per NHL.com. "There's pressure no matter which city you're playing in, in front of which crowd. It's the playoffs, everyone's watching, it's the hardest trophy to win in sports and it's that way for a reason. There's so much pressure each game, but our ability to handle that pressure I've been really impressed with, not just this year, the past two years in the playoffs, and all these experiences have been adding up and shaping us into a pretty good playoff team."
Pacioretty has six points this postseason off of two goals and four assists while P.K. Subban paces Montreal with eight points off of one tally and seven helpers and Brendan Gallagher has lit the lamp three times.
The Lightning won eight straight games against their opponents after being swept out of the first round of last year's playoffs, but after losing two consecutive contests, the team may be showing signs of frustration.
"Probably whoever ends up losing the game is the team that had the most pressure and couldn't get through it, like, let's be honest, that's what it is," coach Jon Cooper told NHL.com. "If you don't read a newspaper and you don't watch TV, you wouldn't really know anything other than we're playing the Montreal Canadiens. That's kind of how I'm looking at it. It's been fun playing these guys this year, we've played them a lot, a little rivalry has been budding over here the last two years; this is why we're in this."
Tyler Johnson leads the NHL with eight goals in the postseason and has a team-best 12 points while Stamkos has nine points off of two markers and seven helpers for Tampa Bay and Nikita Kucherov (four goals, four assists) and Alex Killorn (three markers, five helpers) each have eight points.
The Lightning is without Ryan Callahan (0-3--3) indefinitely after he underwent an emergency appendectomy on Monday.
In between the pipes, Tampa Bay turns to Ben Bishop and he is 7-5 in the playoffs with a 1.88 goals-against average and a .930 save percentage.
Montreal counters with Vezina and Hart Trophy finalist Carey Price in the crease and he is 6-5 this spring with a 2.16 GAA and a .923 save percentage.
The Canadiens look to force a decisive Game 7 while the Lightning hopes to close out the series when the puck drops on Game 6 live tonight from the Amalie Arena in Tampa Bay.
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