The Montreal Canadiens have won their first game of the 2026 National Hockey League Stanley Cup Playoffs. On Sunday, the Canadiens defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-3 in overtime. The win now means the Canadiens have home ice advantage with game three taking place on Friday at the Bell Centre, and game four taking place on Sunday at the Bell Centre. Both games will take place at 7pm ET. Game six (if necessary) will be on Friday, May 1 in Montreal at a time to be announced.
In the Canadiens win, Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki of London, Ontario had a multi-point game as he had two assists. Meanwhile, Josh Anderson of Burlington, Ontario opened the scoring at 13:24 of the first period from defenseman Alexandre Carrier of Quebec City, Quebec and defenseman Mike Matheson of Pointe-Claire, Quebec. The other two Canadiens players with a notable game were Juraj Slafkovsky and Cole Caufield. Slafkovsky recorded a hat trick and Caufield also had a multi-point game as he had two assists.
The Canadiens were one of three road teams to win on the opening weekend of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs. On Saturday, the Minnesota Wild trounced the Dallas Stars 6-1 and the Philadelphia Flyers beat the Pittsburgh Penguins by a close score of 3-2.
