Habs hope to bring own storm to Tampa

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 06/07/2021 (1911 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

TAMPA — We’re driving through increasingly heavy rain, having just pulled out of Tampa International Airport on Tuesday afternoon, and my Uber driver turns to me with some not-so-breaking news.

“You heard about the weather?” Abdullah asks, the smile on his face quite apparent underneath his mask.

How could I not? Tropical Storm Elsa is heading in our direction, gaining strength in the Gulf of Mexico with a target on Florida’s west coast and a likely overnight landfall — with some suggesting it could be a full-blown hurricane by that point. I may have spent the past week in Montreal, but it wasn’t under a rock.

In fact, as soon as Habs forward Josh Anderson scored the overtime winner late Monday night at the Bell Centre, it’s pretty much all I’ve been thinking about. And the mad scramble to book the earliest flight possible — along with the requisite rapid COVID-19 test and negative result required before going through security at Montréal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport — has been all about trying to outrace Mother Nature.

Fortunately I made it in the nick of time — the descent was a bit bumpier than I’d like — as did the Canadiens and Lightning on their charter flights. Now the hope is that things have calmed down enough by tonight for Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final to proceed as scheduled.

And, perhaps a fan-made storm to take over.

Lord Stanley will be inside Amalie Arena, along with more than 18,000 locals hoping to see the trophy paraded around the ice and raised triumphantly. They were denied that chance last year, when Tampa downed Dallas inside empty Rogers Arena in the hub city of Edmonton. But now, thanks to the Lightning’s 3-2 loss in Game 4 that prevented a clean sweep of the Canadiens, along with COVID-19 restrictions that are long gone around here, a chance to finish off a unique season in stirring fashion.

Standing in their way is a plucky Montreal team that showed they won’t go away quietly. It would have been easy to fold the tent and call it a season after they twice blew one-goal leads on Monday, then took a four-minute high-sticking penalty with time winding down in the third period. But not only did they kill it off, they found a way to prevail.

Which makes it rather fitting their reward was travelling the following day straight into the path of a dangerous system, a perfect metaphor if there ever was one.

“This whole season has been kind of chaotic, kind of hectic,” veteran Montreal forward Corey Perry said over Zoom just before flying south. “We’ve kind of gone through everything between COVID, the way we played some nights to everything. And now…we are potentially going into a hurricane.”

Despite Monday’s setback, this Lightning club is a force of nature. And the odds suggest they won’t whiff on a second chance to win a second straight championship, especially with a huge crowd on their side. It should be noted that last year, Tampa had a chance to finish off Dallas in Game 5, ultimately dropping a double-overtime decision. They responded by methodically shutting down the Stars two nights later to win the Cup.

With nearly the same roster back for more, it’s no surprise they’re approaching this with a similar mindset.

“We missed an opportunity (Monday) night. Our group knows that,” Tampa defenceman Ryan McDonagh said Tuesday.

“And you turn the page pretty quick here this morning and you realize what a great opportunity you have here as a team, as a group and as an organization up 3-1 in the series and you’ve got to win one more and you’re going into obviously a place you’re familiar with, with a fan base that’s going to be behind us and we’ve got to go out there and give it our best effort and try to win one hockey game.”

But momentum and confidence can be funny things, and there’s no question the door has now been opened ever-so-slightly by Montreal. Just imagine, for a second, what a victory tonight in enemy territory would do to this series, which would shift back north for Game 6 on Friday night. Suddenly, all of that pressure will have shifted to the heavy favourites.

Not to mention Tampa residents might run mayor Jane Castor out of office, considering she suggested over the weekend the Lightning should want to lose Game 4 because it would mean the thrill of victory on home ice in Game 5. Talk about opening a potential Pandora’s Box.

This is a team that fully expects to win, playing in a city and state that has been severely spoiled by their pro sports teams during the pandemic and expects nothing less than perfection. It started with the Lightning last September, continued with the Tampa Bay Rays making it to the World Series last October (they lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers), and culminated in February with Tom Brady leading the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to the top of the NFL mountain.

Talk about an embarrassment of recent riches. Florida was also represented in the NBA Finals last fall, with the Miami Heat falling to the Los Angeles Lakers. That’s quite an impressive run for the region when it comes to the big four pro leagues.

“Welcome to Tampa, home of the Stanley Cup champion Lightning and Super Bowl champion Bucs,” the recorded voice inside the airport shuttle greets visitors.

And now, the Lightning are poised to strike again. Unless, of course, the Habs can find a way to weather the storm and rain all over their championship aspirations. Unlikely, yes. But in a year filled with unpredictable events, never say never.

“It’s no surprise anymore. I think anything that happens right now and for a while, we just take it and look at it, and say it’s probably part of our destiny,” said Montreal coach Dominique Ducharme.

“It’s been crazy. But we’re a crazy bunch of guys in here, and we’re going to take that challenge.”

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @mikemcintyrewpg