Former NHL Coach Drops 3 Keys For Canadiens To Eliminate the Lightning in Game 6

The Montreal Canadiens pulled off another thrilling victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning Wednesday night, with a 3-2 victory. That is also the margin by which they now lead the tightly-fought first-round series.

The set now heads back to the raucous Bell Centre in Montreal for Game 6 tomorrow night and a chance for the Habs to clinch and move on to Round 2.

Former NHL head coach, currently TSN Hockey analyst, Bruce Boudreau, gives us his 3 Keys to Victory for the Canadiens to wrap this series up:

1. 'Pressure, pressure, pressure': Do not allow Tampa Bay to set up an attack

"The pressure that (the Habs) put on (the Lightning): They did not give them a chance to set up. Especially in the third period. I thought it was an unbelievably magnificent way to play the game."

The Canadiens did not sit back and let the Lightning dictate pace; rather, they continued to apply pressure on the Bolts. They disrupted Tampa's offensive zone entries and limited odd-man rushes.

"If you play like that against a team like Tampa, you're going to frustrate them, like they did in the third period."

2. Maintain Goaltending edge

Jakub Dobes has simply been the better goalie in this series. And when the guy in the crease at the other end of the rink is Andrei Vasilevskiy, that's a pretty unexpected advantage for Montreal. But the Habs' young netminder has a .908 save percentage and a 2.49 goals against average, while the two-time Stanley Cup champion and Conn Smythe Trophy winner Visilevskiy has not been 'that guy': he sports an .880 Sv% and a 2.68 GAA.

"I think Visilevskiy has been rather ordinary, quite frankly," Boudreau said. "If Dobes can stay strong and stay focused," the Habs have a great chance to win.

3. Take advantage of Home Ice

"You got the last change. (Martin St. Louis) can get all the matchups he wants out there. You wanna be able to get (Nikita) Kucherov off his game... To get that 3rd and 4th line against them the way they want them, is in perfect harmony with how you want to play the game."

For a bonus, Boudreau added a 4th key, an obvious one for any team: "Stay out of the (penalty) box."