Matheson Relates to Fans After Canadiens Force Game 7
Mike Matheson said he can relate to Canadiens fans after Montreal’s 1-0 overtime loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning forced a Game 7 on Sunday in Tampa. The Canadiens held a 3-3 series tie after Gage Goncalves scored at 9:03 of overtime Friday night at the Bell Centre.
Goncalves Ends Game 6
Montreal got 30 saves from Jakub Dobes, but Andrei Vasilevskiy turned aside 32 shots for Tampa Bay and the Lightning escaped with the only goal of the night. Matheson logged 28:47 of ice time in the defeat.
That pushed the best-of-seven back to Tampa, where the Canadiens have already won two of the first three games in the series. The next one starts at 6 p.m. Sunday.
Matheson On Watching
Matheson said, “It was definitely exciting.” He added, “We were able to generate a lot of chances and credit to their goalie. Both goalies played really well.”
His point went beyond the box score. Matheson said, “It’s so much worse watching it, for sure,” and tied that feeling to watching Emily Pfalzer’s career from the stands: “I lived that with my wife through her career. I was a mess every time when she was in the Olympics, I could barely watch.”
He said the difference comes from control. “There’s something about not having control over it,” he said. “But I think when you’re on the ice you’re just so focused that the nerves don’t hit you as much.”
Canadiens Carry Confidence
The Canadiens left the Bell Centre without a win, but Matheson said they were happy with their composure and not surprised the series reached this point. “We did,” he said when asked whether they stayed composed. “It’s not easy to come into this building and know how excited our fan base is and want it so badly to be able to stay composed like that. I was really happy with our group.”
He also said the group believes it can answer again in Tampa: “We’re not surprised that it’s ending up in Game 7 and we have a lot of confidence that we can go down there and find a win.” The Canadiens are the youngest team in the playoffs, and they boarded a flight from the Montreal Metropolitan Airport in St-Hubert at noon Saturday for the trip south.
On the Tampa side, Jon Cooper called Game 6 “epic,” while Martin St. Louis spoke with media members before Montreal left for Florida. The series now hinges on one game, with the Canadiens carrying a split-ready record into the rematch after two wins in Tampa already.
