from Jack Todd at the Montreal Gazette,

This has been a beat-down. There’s no way to sugar-coat it. The Lightning are up three games to none because they’ve been vastly better than the Habs — not because of Chris Lee or Gary Bettman or vanished ghosts or anything else.

Tampa is a great team, perhaps the best of the salary cap era. They have Kucherov, a superstar scoring machine who actually shows up in the postseason. They have a huge and mobile defence augmented by Marc Bergevin’s contribution (in the form of Mikhail Sergachev) and they have the best goaltender in the universe....

A miracle now is not impossible, it’s just highly unlikely. If the Canadiens are going to avoid being swept in the final for only the second time in their history (they lost to the immortal Terry Sawchuk and the Detroit Red Wings in four straight in 1952) they would need to beat Andrei Vasilevskiy Monday night at the Bell Centre and then three more times in six days.

With some luck and a lot more from Carey Price and a dozen others, the Canadiens might salvage some pride Monday night at the Bell Centre. Even if they don’t, there’s no shame involved. This has been a run for the ages, emerging from a pandemic winter to turn the tables on Toronto, sweep Winnipeg and run the powerful Golden Knights out of the playoffs. (If you think making the final is easy, remember the Leafs haven’t been there since 1967, the last time they won the Cup.)

There’s no need to seek out scapegoats. Every player on this roster has distinguished himself with the sort of flat-out effort that drains legs, lungs and spirit.

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