The Montreal Canadiens are the only Canadian team to make the playoffs this year. That hasn’t happened since the 80′s. And a Canadian team hasn’t won since the Habs did in 1993. If Montreal wants to end that 21 year drought, they first have to get through Steven Stamkos and the Tampa Bay Lightning. Although Tampa has home ice, Montreal is not an underdog in this series and if they stick to their game plan, should be able to come out on top.

The teams played each other four times, with every game ending 2-1 (except for one that saw Tampa score on the empty net). Tampa won three of the four but the degree of separation between the teams was almost non-existent. The teams were so close in fact, that if Montreal had won any of those three games, they would have had home ice in this series. Needless to say, this is going to be a close series between two good teams.

You can read the rest of the article on Hooked on Hockey.com.