Lightning-Canadiens Game 7: Key players, final score picks

It all comes down to a game for the host Tampa Bay Lightning And Montreal Canadiens.

Three wins each, with four of the six games requiring extra time to decide the winner.

Which team will face off? Buffalo Sabres On to the next round, and which will spend the coming months wishing it could have been better one More opportunities to do it?

Our panel of hockey reporters and analysts are here to break down the key players to watch in Sunday’s Game 7 (6 p.m. ET, TNT), as well as making a prediction of the final score.

Who do you see as a key player in Game 7?

Ryan S. Clark, NHL Reporter: Jacob Dobbes. Much of the conversation surrounding the Canadiens has been how their young core will handle another playoff run. An argument could be made that Dobbes was one of them, if not more D The most consistent performer of this series when it comes to how this club will perform in the future. He led the Canadiens to victory in every game throughout the series.

Doing the same in Game 7 is only going to raise his profile in a city where being the No. 1 goaltender already comes with plenty of attention.

Emily Kaplan, NHL Reporter: Nikita Kucherov. He won the Hart Trophy for league MVP this season, scoring a ridiculous 130 points in 76 games (44 goals, 86 assists, 42 points more than his closest teammate) but his postseason hasn’t lived up to his same sparkling standards — yet.

In the Lightning’s worst team performance of the series, a Game 5 loss at home, Kucherov’s body language was noticeably poor. It’s something the Tampa Bay staff says the star winger has missed this season. They always make it clear: Kucherov doesn’t complain about teammates or coaches, he’s more frustrated with himself that the plays he expects there aren’t being implemented. Kucherov could erase all that detail with a signature performance in Game 7.

Victoria Matias, NHL analyst: Cole Caufield. Enough is enough. As effective as Tampa Bay has been at stifling Montreal’s top line, Caufield remains static after scoring more goals this season — 51, including 40 — than anyone not named. Nathan McKinnon. if Andrei Vasilevsky Not coming off his best performance in this series, the league’s second-leading scorer had a good chance to score four quality shots in Game 6 (0.65 ixG, according to Evolving Hockey).

If Caufield can finally add a power-play goal to his current total in this series, when it matters most, the Habs will stand a significantly better chance of facing the Sabres.

Arda Okal, NHL Broadcaster: Andrei Vasilevsky. Big Cat is one of the most clutch goaltenders in NHL history. He has eight career playoff shutouts and seven of those were in either series-clinching or elimination games.

He also stood tall with a shutout in Game 6, making 30 saves, his second most in a playoff shutout. If Tampa Bay wins Game 7, it will be behind one of the most reliable members of their roster in more than a decade.

Kristen Shilton, NHL Reporter: Brayden Point. It’s wild that the point that has had the biggest impact on this series is the heated debate over an (alleged?) missed high-sticking call in Game 6 that (potentially?) cost the Lights four minutes on the power play. Point has one goal heading into Game 7 against the Canadiens and that’s after collecting 50 points in 63 regular-season games. He previously was a point-per-game producer in the playoffs, and more than that, points have been an offensive driver for Tampa Bay.

But to think he’s averaging about 20 minutes of ice time, and it still feels (only half-jokingly) like his face is on the missing persons report? It’s not the standard Point has set for himself over the years (he once scored 51 goals in a season!), and if Point has been holding back or waiting for the spotlight to fully shine, well, it’s time to move on. The Lightning need more from their star players and the pressure is on to be the difference maker in the 7 point game.

Greg Wishinsky, NHL Reporter: Brandon Hagel. Coach John Cooper called him “The Straw That Keeps Us Stirring” In These PlayoffsAnd for good reason. He scored a goal. He fought. He opposed the Canadians. He’s gone from being a great two-way player with gravitas.

Look no further than the Game 6 overtime winner: how Hagel surrounded one Montreal player and then magnetically attracted two more to open up a deep section of the zone where Gage Goncalves Finally the goal. One of the main reasons they are in a Game 7. May also be the reason for their victory.

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The final score will be _____.

Clerk: 3-2 Canadian in OT.

Kaplan: Lightning in 2-1 OT.

Mathias: 3-2 Lightning.

Öcal: 2-1 Habs in triple overtime. Because after the series why they can not?

Shilton: Lightning in 2-1 double OT.

Wyshynski: 4-2 Lightning, redeeming themselves in front of the home fans after an embarrassing Game 5 effort.