The Habs, still led by Luke Richardson during their interim coach Dominique Ducharme’s layoff, are making their first Stanley Cup Final appearance since 1993.
After seeing his side get rid of the Vegas Golden Knights in six games in the previous round, coach Richardson still had to make changes to his roster. His striker Joel Jeremiah may not be available for the meeting.
He had to go through the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol on Sunday, and was not scheduled to accompany the club to Florida. However, the Finn then got the go-ahead to join his colleagues on a private jet.
He can participate in the first duel if he arrives on time and the team sees fit to play. Otherwise, Jake Evans will have to replace him alongside Eric Stahl and Corey Perry.
It is said that Evans will meet for the first time since June 2. He suffered a concussion at the time when he had a tough physical exam from Mark Scheeffel of Winnipeg Jets.
Richardson said that decisions on the formation of CH will be made later today.
The Lightning will defend their National Hockey League (NHL) title in front of 16,300 spectators at the Amalie Arena.
Today, the organization announced an increase in the maximum number of spectators admitted to the stadium. In the previous round, a maximum of 14,800 fans watched the Lightning beat the New York Islanders.
On the Montreal side, it was announced that the second game of the series will be presented at the Bell Center in front of 3,500 fans.
The Canadian is built for the playoffs
Habs will play her first Grand Final match since June 9, 1993. They then win the 24th Championship with a 4-1 victory over the Los Angeles Kings at the Montreal Forum.
Only about half of the current team was born during this latest victory.
There will be a lot of emotion in the first game. “I’m expecting some strong play,” Canada striker Josh Anderson said. We want to be physical, but we have to be smart and pick our moments. There is a lot of energy in the locker room. We are confident.
For its part, Lightning celebrated the second championship in its history just nine months ago. He defeated the Dallas Stars in six games last September in the NHL bubble in Edmonton.
This time around, Lightning will play in front of a full house at the Amalie Arena.
We are excited to have the opportunity to share this experience with our supporters and community.
Lightning forward Blake Coleman said Monday morning.
The core of the team remained the same, with goalkeeper Andrei Vasilevsky, defender Victor Hedman and strikers Nikita Kucherov, Stephen Stamkos and Brayden Point.
Neither Canadians nor Lightning have faced each other this season due to the shifting schedule to avoid cross-border travel during the pandemic.
During the 2019-20 season, Lightning won all four of the two teams’ encounters.
Even though the Lightning team have taken 16 more points than their Bleu-blanc-rouge this winter, coach John Cooper remains skeptical.
If you remember the early season predictions, most are predicting a battle between the Canadians and the Toronto Maple Leafs at the top of the Northern Division.
Cooper recalls.
The Canadian is built for the playoffs. This is not Team Cinderella. That’s not what we think in our locker room.
Since the final was a series of the best of seven, that is, since 1939, the winner of the first meeting won 61 of 81 series.
However, the team that lost the first game has won the Stanley Cup in the past three years.
Game 1 will be played at 8 PM EST in Tampa Bay.