Montreal Canadiens forward Cole Caufield (22) celebrates with forward Paul Byron (41) and forward Nick Suzuki (14) after scoring a goal against Vegas Golden Knights goalie Robin Lehner (90) during the second period in game six of the 2021 Stanley Cup Semifinals at the Bell Center.
Eric Bolte/USA TODAY Sports
NHL

What We Learned: The irresistible power play meets the immovable penalty kill

My brilliant colleague Dimitri Filipovic has been analyzing how every team that advanced through the postseason got past their opponents.

And while his breakdowns of the Montreal Canadiens and Tampa Bay Lightning series wins were, of course, on point, you don’t have to be as smart as Dimitri to understand the big factor at play in both those semifinal series and the Cup Final that starts tonight.

The Canadiens got by the Vegas Golden Knights because they did not allow a single power play goal in the series. That’s it. For the most part, it’s fair to say Montreal wrestled Vegas almost to a draw at 5-on-5. The Knights had a slight edge in pretty much all full-strength stats except high-danger chances, and actually outscored Montreal 13-11 here in the series.

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This article is about:
NHL Montréal Canadiens New York Islanders Tampa Bay Lightning Vegas Golden Knights NHL Anders Lee Kyle Palmieri Carey Price Nick Suzuki Andrei Vasilevsky Jon Cooper Lou Lamoriello
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