Photo credit: Morgan Tencza-Imagn Images
The Montreal Canadiens just won Game 1 of the series 4-3 in overtime, and in the Tampa Bay Lightning locker room, one topic dominates.
Not a word about the Montreal Canadiens’ performance.
McDonagh was the most direct.
“We’re a pretty accountable group here, and the type of penalties we took tonight are pretty much unacceptable. I think a handful of them in the offensive zone, 200 feet away from our net.”
– McDonagh on penalties
The defenseman also acknowledged that the Montreal Canadiens were able to run their power play at will.
“The opportunities that we gave them, the number of penalties we took, is not a recipe for success, regular season or playoffs.” McDonagh added.
That lines up with what Corey Perry also mentioned during the second intermission.
Brandon Hagel cites costly penalties as key factor in Lightning’s game 1 loss to Canadiens
Hagel, for his part, admitted the Lightning shot themselves in the foot.
“Obviously, it is not a place you want to be but, at the same time, you can look at this game and I think we shot ourselves in the foot. I take an O zone penalty and you can go down the list.
– Brandon Hagel
On the Montreal Canadiens’ power play, Hagel acknowledged the quality of the unit.
“We knew they had a good power play. We need to execute on the penalty kill. It is pretty simple I think. It starts with myself. It starts with Cirelli. It is our job to kill penalties off and we didn’t do that,” Hagel added.
The message is clear in the Tampa Bay Lightning locker room, and they are all saying the same thing.
The Canadiens take a 1-0 lead in the series!
Game 2 Tuesday night in Tampa!
