warum » while Cooper replaced injured forward Ondrej

TAMPA, Fla. -- After losing home-ice advantage on the final day of the regular season, the Montreal Canadiens couldve found satisfaction in splitting the first two games at Tampa Bay Times Forum. Instead, they dominated the Lightning in a 4-1 victory in Game 2 on Friday night to take a two games to none stranglehold on the Atlantic Division semifinals. Even after hearing chants of "Ole, Ole, Ole" and knowing they were heading back to Bell Centre having accomplished everything they set out to do, the Habs werent glowing about their series lead. "Im not pleased until the series is over," defenceman P.K. Subban said. Montreal is halfway toward ending it and moving on, thanks to a second straight strong performance led by two goals from Rene Bourque and 26 saves by goaltender Carey Price. In the process, the Habs chased Anders Lindback out of the Lightning net and even caused the home team to hold a players-only meeting. In the visiting locker-room, there was no need for such a scene because the Habs showed on the ice that theyre on the same page and cruising along. "I think were really focused about the work we have to do," coach Michel Therrien said. "When we approach every game, we dont want to try to see the end result. Our focus, its been like that every game. ... I like the composure of that team, I like the leadership of that team." Therrien also liked how his team reacted to adjustments made by Tampa Bay and how it managed the puck in Game 2. The kind of errors that led to scoring chances against Wednesday night were just about gone. "Its such a fine line in the difference between the games and for us its just been consistent play and were sticking to our systems and were limiting the mistakes," said forward Brendan Gallagher, who scored Montreals third goal of the night. "We just felt comfortable today. We were able to execute our game plan as well as we wanted to and we got rewarded." Sticking to the game plan meant the Habs were able to stay in their comfort zone while taking the Lightning out of theirs. While Tampa Bay had some jump at the start and forced Price to make a handful of early saves, this young group that was playing without Ondrej Palat couldnt cash in before Montreal poured it on. "Nobody likes to be suffocated," Subban said. "Its pretty frustrating if you got a bag over your head and you cant breathe. Its not the best feeling the world. "It is tough when you turn up the ice as a defenceman and you see three forwards, two defencemen and Carey Price standing in the net." Gallagher saw David Desharnais power-play goal 2:34 into the second period as the games turning point. That snapped an 0-for-27 power-play drought dating to March 25. "Thats a great lift for the hockey club," Gallagher said. "It got us going, and we didnt look back from there." From there, Bourque recorded his first multi-goal game since Feb. 2, 2013, scoring his first on a highlight-reel move by blowing past Eric Brewer, undressing Sami Salo and evading Lindbacks poke check. "It was nice to get the puck with speed and make a move there," Bourque said, crediting Thomas Vanek for the no-look pass. "Im not about style points." Price racked up style points making his best save of the night 15:31 into the second on Gaspe, Que., native Cedric Paquette. Paquette fired a loose puck from the top of the crease, and Price managed to get his left pad on it. "I was just kind of scrambling," Price said. "It was just desperation. I cant remember what exactly happened or how it wound up there." That was one of only a handful of difficult saves Price had to make because the play in front of him was stepped up from Game 1. The Lightning limited their blunders, too, but they still found themselves staring at a 2-0 series deficit. "Were not playing well," captain Steven Stamkos said. "Were not going to sugar-coat anything. We have a lot better than these first two games. Its turnovers, its compete level, but we know whats in here. We know we have this group. "People can make excuses. Im not going to sit here and make excuses. Were going to man up and realize we have more to offer." Lightning players held a players-only meeting after the loss, something that coach Jon Cooper fully supported. "When youve got a team that cares, they take it upon themselves," Cooper said. "They understand the magnitude of whats gone on and for them to sit down and gather their thoughts about it, thats why I like that group of guys. "They know whats at hand here, though, and they know theyve got more in them. For them to sit around and talk about, its good for them." Plenty will be talked about before Game 3 Sunday in Montreal, about the Lightning coming back hard with their hopes on the line. Cooper hinted that theyll go back to Lindback even after he pulled him for Kristers Gudlevskis after Bourques second of the night at the 14:39 mark of the third. No matter whos in net for Tampa Bay, the Habs are expecting the Lightnings best. "This is a team thats been resilient all year, theyve got lots of character on that side," Subban said of the Lightning. "Theres no shortage of us knowing how important these games are going back home. "Were not focusing on what the series is. As far as were concerned, our mentality is that the series is 0-0 going back home." Its not 0-0, but Cooper thinks theres still plenty of pressure on the Habs. "Im sure theyre tickled pink to go up 2-zip, but theyve still got to win games," he said. "Theyve got to go home and deliver." Six players who were in Montreal uniforms Friday night were part of the 2011 team that didnt deliver in this situation. Three years ago the Habs took a two games to none lead on the Bruins, winning both games in Boston, before losing the first-round series in seven. That was on Subbans mind after winning Game 2, but he and his teammates are armed with that memory now. "You go deeper and deeper in these types of series the games get more and more important," Subban said. "Were going to have to be ready." NOTES -- Desharnais goal was his first in the Stanley Cup playoffs, while Max Paciorettys secondary assist was his first career playoff point. ... Therrien went with the same lineup from Game 1, while Cooper replaced injured forward Ondrej Palat with defenceman Andrej Sustr. Tampa Bay went with 11 forwards and seven defencemen, a look they featured 40 times in the regular season. ... Lightning forward J.T. Brown left the game briefly in the second period after taking a big hit in front of the bench from Alexei Emelin. He returned to the bench not long after and was back on the ice early in the third. NHL Jerseys Sale .Best moustache: How can we not give this to Lanny McDonald? Check out the duster for yourself. NHL Jerseys China . -- Augusta James of Bath, Ont. https://www.chinanhljerseys.us/ . PETERSBURG, Fla. Clearance NHL Jerseys . -- Atlanta Braves pitcher Tommy Hanson is being checked for a possible concussion after blowing a tire on his way to the first workout of spring training. Cheap NHL Jerseys Authentic . The Toronto Maple Leafs were holding a news conference, so they got curious. It didnt take long for them to find out via social media that coach Randy Carlyle was coming back — with a two-year extension — and assistants Greg Cronin, Scott Gordon and Dave Farrish were being let go.The Montreal Canadiens will look to avoid a season-worst fourth straight defeat Monday night when they travel to Denver to face Patrick Roy and the surging Colorado Avalanche. You can listen to the game live on TSN Radio 690 Montreal starting at 9pm et/6pm pt. Montreal (16-7-2) had won eight of nine before falling 5-0 to the New York Rangers on Nov. 23. It then dropped a home-and-home set with lowly Buffalo, losing 2-1 on the road Friday and 4-3 in a shootout the next night. Brendan Gallagher, who signed a six-year, $22.5 million extension prior to the second contest, ended a five-game goal drought Saturday. Galchenyuk got an assist on the goal. Its frustrating, but we cant really do anything about it now and weve got to focus on our next game, Galchenyuk said. Learn from our mistakes, take the positive things from these two games and move on. Montreal outshot Buffalo by 24 over the two games. We spent three-quarters of the game in the offensive zone without being able to capitalize more than we did, coach Michel Therrien said. The way we played, we could have picked up four points this weekend. Price made 32 saves in the first meeting with the Avalanche and will be in net for this contest. Hes 6-2-0 with a 1.51 goals-against average over his last eight starts after stopping 23 shots Friday. Roy has watched Colorado underachieve most of the season, but the Avalanche coach knew that the defending Central Division champions had it in them to improve. Their recent surge is providing proof as Colorado will seek its sixth victory in eight games. The Avalanche (9-10-5) are tied with Dallas for last place in the Central after winning their first division title in 11 years in Roys first season. Theyre beginning to recover from a slow start, though, and have gone 5-2-0 over their last seven after beating the Stars 5-2 on Saturday.dddddddddddd Alex Tanguay had a goal and two assists, Matt Duchene and Gabriel Landeskog added a goal and an assist apiece and Tyson Barrie had a career-high three assists. A break here and there, we would have won seven in a row, Roy said. I love the way we are playing right now. I really love (it). Were intense, were on the puck, were competing well, we put pucks on net. Colorado tied for fifth in the league with a 19.8 power-play percentage last season, but it had gone 1 for 31 (3.2 percent) over its previous 11 heading into Saturday. Duchene and Landeskog scored with the man advantage in the third period after Roy delivered a message by sending his fourth line to work a previous power-play opportunity. Our power play was big. Its nice to finally score on it, said Tanguay, who assisted on both power-play goals. We havent been scoring on that all year. The Avalanche had seven power-play chances for the game and held a 47-24 shot advantage. Calvin Pickard had 22 saves to earn his first NHL victory as a starter. I dont think we wasted any shots, Duchene said. That is what Patty has been harping on all season. He wants us to make the plays when theyre there, but when they are not there, put pucks on net and get some greasy ones. Duchene and Tanguay scored in the first meeting with Montreal on Oct. 18, but the Avalanche allowed two goals to P.K. Subban and another to Alex Galchenyuk in the second period of a 3-2 loss. Game Notes: MTL is 1-0-0 vs COL this season, winning at home COL has won their last 2 games at home vs MTL Colorado: 3-1-0 past 4 games, 15GF, 2/15 on PP 3-4-0 past 7 home games, 2/24 on PP Tanguay (1G, 3A) past 2 games Montreal: 0-2-1 past 3 games, 1/6 on PP, 4GF 0-2-0 past 2 on road, 1GF, 1/4 on PP 8-0-0 when scoring first Subban (2G) vs COL this season ' ' '