Alan Greenberg, FHN Sr. Writer
The Stanley Cup playoffs always provide unforeseen performances by the lesser lights.
We are only in Round 1, yet there has been no shortage of pleasant surprises.
Our old pal Alex Lyon, now with Buffalo, may again emerge as a hero, just as he did in Florida when he subbed for Sergei Bobrovsky in 2023.
Lyon relieved Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen in the third period of Game 2 after Boston shelled him for four goals.
He then shutout the Bruins the rest of the way and returned for Games 3 and 4 in which he stoned the Bruins in Buffalo’s 3-1 and 6-1 wins.
The Sabres are one game away from reaching the second round, a fete they have not accomplished since the 2006-07 season.
In the three games Lyons has appeared in, he has stopped 54 of 56 shots for a 0.89/.964.
A few other Sabres came up with surprises.
Game 3 was clinched by rookie Noah Oslund’s slick empty netter, his first-ever playoff goal.
Defenseman Bowen Byram had gone 28 consecutive playoff games (27 with Colorado and one with Buffalo) without scoring a goal. He then scored goals in his next three.
Montreal’s Kirby Dach has been around a while so he should have known better.
During the Game 2 overtime against Tampa Bay, he iced the puck when he could have easily reached the red line to avoid icing.
On the ensuing faceoff in the Montreal end, Anthony Cirelli got the puck back to J.J. Moser who skated around Dach until he found a shooting lane and then ripped a wrister past Jakub Dobes for the gamer.
Dach redeemed himself in Game 3 by scoring one goal and assisting on two others, including Lane Hutson’s overtime winner.
The newly formed fourth line of Dach, Zach Bolduc and Alexandre Texier figured in all three goals and had a combined two goals and four assists for the night.
The magic continued into Game 4 with Bolduc’s opening goal, but, alas, Tampa Bay’s powerful offense triggered a comeback from a two-goal deficit to tie the series as it returns to Tampa Bay.
MacKenzie Weegar — another old Florida friend — has been laboring in relative obscurity for four seasons with non-playoff contender Calgary Flames.
The late season trade sending him to Utah gave him his first shot at playoff action since he was with the Panthers in 2022.
When the series with Vegas shifted to Utah, Weegar had the distinction of scoring the first playoff goal ever at Delta Center.
More important, his goal and assist in Game 3 helped the Mammoth take a 2-1 series lead at the time.
These are certainly not all the surprises.
And, there are plenty more coming.
STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS: ROUND 1
TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING (Atl2) v MONTREAL CANADIENS (Atl3)
GAME 5
Best-of-7 Series Tied 2-2
- When: Wednesday, 7
- Where: Benchmark Arena, Tampa
- Tampa Local TV: The Spot-66
- National TV: ESPN2
- Streaming: ESPN+
- Season Series: Tampa Bay won 2-1
- All-time Regular Season Series: Lightning leads 63-43-11, 6 ties
- All-time Postseason Series — Lightning Lead 3-1: Won 2021 Stanley Cup Final (5 games); Won 2015 Round 2 (6); Lost 2014 Round 1 (4); Won 2004 Round 2 (4)
- Series Schedule (Tied 2-2) — Game 1: Montreal 4, Tampa Bay 3 OT; Game 2: Tampa Bay 3, Montreal 2 OT; Game 3: Montreal 3, Lightning 2 OT; Game 4: Lightning 3, Montreal 2; Game 5: at Tampa Bay, Wednesday TBD; Game 6: at Montreal, Friday TBD; *Game 7: at Tampa Bay, May 3 TBD