Stanley Cup Final: The Will-and-Courage Moment

Now, in retrospect, if you look at it one more time, it is of course very clear that Josh Anderson would score a goal. The striker of the Montreal Canadiens stole the puck in his own third, tucked his head between his shoulders and marched wildly forward; past an opponent from Tampa Bay Lightning, past another. Shortly before the opposing goal, he lost the game device, was heavily checked against the gang; but that didn’t stop him. He dived back heroically and shoved the puck into the goal as it fell. This 3-2 in overtime was a goal of will, maybe also anger. It is now only 1: 3 in the best-of-seven final series of the ice hockey league NHL, and doubts could creep into the heads of the Lightning players, this lousy traitor.

It was a game the Tampa Bay defending champions should never have lost. The shooting balance was 34:21, and at the end of regular time Shea Weber, defender for the Canadiens, received a four-minute time penalty; just under three minutes of it were carried over to extra time. Anyone familiar with Lightning Power Play suspected that the game and the final series would now be over: They play the puck as confidently as you can only see it in computer game simulations, they create numerous opportunities with it, and at some point there it just rings. On Monday evening, however, Montréal survived this shortfall because of the famous goalkeeper Carey Price (he saved five shots in the four minutes), and Anderson had this will-and-anger moment immediately afterwards.

The mayor of Tampa Bay motivated the Canadiens with her arrogant statements

Anger because Jane Castor, the mayor of Tampa Bay, wanted exactly that result. “I would like it if Lightning would play a little more relaxed and let the Canadiens win in their hall,” she said: “Then they should win the Stanley Cup at home.” Worse than a 3-0 deficit and complete lack of chance is only arrogant pity like this. It can unleash amazing strength in a team that qualifies for the playoffs with the fewest points, was always considered an underdog and was 3-1 behind in the first round. It’s the typical Cinderella story, which is much more common in the NHL than in the other best-of-seven sports, and that’s even statistically proven.

Montreal doesn’t play as spectacularly as Tampa Bay, but they don’t have to; They can’t do that, and they couldn’t on the way to the final either. But what they can do, and close to perfection: annoy the opponent, poke over and over and then strike precisely and violently. In North America, they now compare that to the legendary rope-a-dope tactic used by boxer Muhammad Ali against George Foreman. But the final series looked so far more like Cinderella would be in the ring – against Foreman, Sonny Liston and Joe Frazier at the same time. The results are enough to know what was going on: 5: 1, 3: 1, 6: 3.

The fourth game was a little different: For the first time in the series, the Canadiens took the lead, twice, but in the end they looked perplexed, frustrated and drained after the equalizer from Tampa Bay. So it took this action of anger and will from Anderson so that the season is not over, but continues on Wednesday in Tampa Bay. Lightning is still the big favorite, but if these playoffs have shown one thing, it is this: You shouldn’t write off Montréal and you shouldn’t publicly pity them.