The Montreal Canadiens mean business right now

It was a game for the ages for the Montreal Canadiens, who opened their first-round series against the Tampa Bay Lightning with a 4-3 overtime victory Sunday night.

Forward Juraj Slafkovsky recorded his first-career playoff hat trick, the third goal coming 1:22 into overtime to give the Habs a 1-0 series lead. He scored all three of his goals on the power play.

Slafkovsky is the first Montreal skater to record a hat trick in the playoffs since Rene Bourque did in 2014 against the New York Rangers.

“I found some open space there and decided to shoot it, thankfully it went in, so we’re real happy,” Slafkovsky told reporters after the game. “But we’ve got to stay focused. We’ve got another game in two days, so we’ve got to make sure we’re prepared for that.”

On Monday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Tyler Yaremchuk and former NHL goaltender Carter Hutton discuss the Canadiens’ overtime win and how this lineup matches up to a veteran Tampa Bay squad.

Tyler Yaremchuk: Montreal’s power play was the reason why they won Game 1. What do you make of Slafkovsky and what do you make of the statline of Andrei Vasilevskiy who gave up four goals on 19 goals?

Carter Hutton: I think (goaltending) was the concern for the Lightning, and at times, as analysts, we give teams that have had success in the past too much credit. To the sense of, “Well, it’s the Lightning, it’s going to be so tough for the Canadiens.” Well, they’re not the Lightning of the past. There’s a lot of age and tread off this

I think for the Montreal Canadiens, there’s a lot to build off, especially with the lead changes. You go from Josh Anderson’s goal being called back to them taking a penalty. And then all of a sudden, it’s two quick goals by the Tampa Bay Lightning. It’s the young Montreal Canadiens team that could have been dealt a big breaking point, where you start to crumble, and you start to feel that pressure.

But they stuck with it and some timely saves, and some timely offense and was really important. Martin St. Louis used his time out very strategically with that power play where he kind of ran it like he was going to take it, gave his players some extra rest, and then he took the time out, he got them out there, they scored a big power play goal, and they won.

I think for Slafkovsky, this has been his coming-out year. This is a team that I think is just their windows just opening now, like this team is going to be good for a while, but they’re making some noise right now, and it’s a lot of fun to watch.

You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode here…