Alex Newhook broke a third-period tie with the game-winning goal to give the visiting Montreal Canadiens a 2-1 Game 7 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Sunday.
Nick Suzuki also scored for the Canadiens, who were outshot 29-9 and outplayed for much of the deciding game, but now face the Buffalo Sabres, who finished atop the Atlantic Division, in the second round, a best-of-seven series that begins Wednesday in Buffalo.
The Canadiens set a Stanley Cup Playoffs record for fewest shots on goal in a win, per Sportsnet.
Montreal goaltender Jakub Dobes made 28 saves, standing especially tall while Tampa Bay peppered him with shots in the second period.
With overtime on the horizon, Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped a point shot, sending the puck bounding to the end boards. But Newhook batted it out of the air toward the front of the cage, banking it off Vasilevskiy and into the cage for his first goal of this year’s playoffs with 8:53 remaining in regulation.
Montreal had last won a series in 2021, the year the Canadiens lost to Tampa Bay in the Stanley Cup Final.
Dominic James scored for the Lightning, who were eliminated in the opening round of the playoffs for a fourth consecutive year.
Vasilevskiy stopped seven of nine shots in the game.
The Canadiens opened the scoring on the game’s first big break. Suzuki netted his first goal of the series when he deflected Kaiden Guhle’s point shot off Lightning defenseman J.J. Moser and into the net at 18:39 of the opening frame.
James tied the game with a deflection tally of his own, tipping a Charle-Edouard D’Astous point shot for a power-play marker at 13:27 of the second period.
The Canadiens failed to register a shot on goal in the middle period, even with a power play, while the Lightning fired 12 on the Montreal net in the period. It is the first time the Canadiens failed to net a shot on goal in a period during the playoffs since shots were counted in 1955-56.
The Canadiens finally put a puck on net more than five minutes into the third period, going nearly 27 minutes between shots. That sparked Montreal to gain some momentum and eventually Newhook’s winning goal.
The Lightning pushed, and even pulled the goalie for the extra attacker with more than two minutes remaining, but could not find the equalizer.
Montreal benefited from the return of defenseman Noah Dobson, who had been out since being hit in the left hand by a slap shot April 11. Dobson blocked a shot with his right hand in the waning minutes of regulation.
