Lightning over Canadiens in 5
All I saw was Game Four and Game Five and I gotta say, the Lightning were the vastly superior squad in both matches, not at all surprised they were able to repeat.
In Game Four, I thought the Lightning straight dominated the 1st period but the Canadiens got the goal and were up 1-0. In the 2nd period, I thought the Canadiens straight dominated but the Lightning got the goal and the match was tied. The 3rd period was great back and forth action, each team scored and when the Lightning failed to get the decisive goal during a long power play at the end of regulation, I thought they really missed on an opportunity to finish the series. They were still unable to capitalize in the OT and the Canadiens were able to poke one in to win 3-2 and stayed alive.
In Game Five, man, the Canadiens never came close to looking like they were gonna score. It was a defensive struggle and though the Lightning attack wasn't particularly scintillating either, they were able to steal the goal needed to finish the series. The Canadien power play was just awful--awful!--even with a man advantage they couldn't maintain possession much less push forward to attack.
I watched not a lot of hockey this season but if you told me that the Tampa Bay Lightning were the best team and the deserving champion, I'd have to agree. They looked so much stronger than the Canadiens in the handful of games I saw.
