from John Romano of the Tampa Bay Times

You know, not every market can be as proficient in the game as Tampa Bay. The way I understand it, the Canadiens have not won a Stanley Cup, or had even made it to the finals, since the year the Lightning were born. Tampa Bay, of course, has won two Cups and is on the verge of hogging it for yet another year.

So perhaps the Lightning could take it a little easier on the Canadiens in this Stanley Cup final. Maybe not punk them in front of their tiny little crowd. After beating the Canadiens 6-3 in Montreal in Game 3 on Friday night, the Lightning moved to within one victory of the first Stanley Cup final sweep in 23 years.

Meanwhile, the Canadiens are down to their last chance to win a game in the final since Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was a college student in Montreal just about a mile down the road from the Bell Centre.

“We have a gameplan, right? And everybody is buying in and everybody is doing their job,” said wing Nikita Kucherov, who had a goal and an assist in Game 3. “When everybody is doing their job, it makes it easier. We play a full 60 minutes the right way.”

Honestly, it wouldn’t be that difficult for the Lightning to give these guys a few tips. Nothing too fancy, just some pointers for hockey novices.

For instance, it’s totally okay for defensemen to score. No, seriously, this is true. The Lightning were up 2-0 in Game 3 because the Canadiens didn’t bother to cover either Jan Rutta or Victor Hedman, and both defensemen blasted in shots from more than 50 feet away.

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