4th straight 1st-round exit leaves the Lightning searching for answers

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TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — The Tampa Bay Lightning dominated most of Game 7, had triple the scoring opportunities and still found a way to lose.

It’s an early exit for the fourth straight season.

A pair of fluky goals helped the Montreal Canadiens beat the Lightning 2-1 on Sunday night, sending Tampa Bay to a familiar first-round exit.

The Lightning played their best game of the series, held the Canadiens to just nine shots and yet are heading on vacation while the Canadiens advance to face the Buffalo Sabres.

Montreal’s first goal bounced off Lightning defenseman J.J. Moser and went in. The second was whacked out of the air behind the net, hit goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy’s pad and his backside and went in..

“The hockey gods have been in my corner many, many times. Tonight they were in the other corner,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said.

For a talented team whose standard is hoisting Stanley Cups, nobody has any answers. Since falling two wins short of a three-peat in 2022, Tampa Bay can’t win a series.

“I don’t really have words,” Ryan McDonagh said. “You like a lot about the game. From start to finish, we stuck with our process and our plan. But at the end it doesn’t matter because they had two, we had one. It’s a loss. Credit to them. They grinded and found a way.”

The Lightning just couldn’t get much past rookie goalie Jakub Dobes throughout the series. He made 28 saves in Game 7. Tampa Bay didn’t get enough production from its offensive stars. Nikita Kucherov, who had 130 points in the regular season, still has zero in his career in Game 7s.

“There’s some disbelief in our room that we can play like that and not walk away with anything,” Cooper said about the defensive effort. “We couldn’t have played any better and still it wasn’t good enough. You have to tip your cap to (Canadiens coach) Martin St. Louis, Jakub Dobes and the Montreal Canadiens.”

After tallying 106 points in the regular season and finishing second in the division, the Lightning missed an opportunity to make a run at the Cup.

And, the team could be running out of time together.

Kucherov and Jake Guentzel, the team’s two leading scorers in the regular season, and Vasilevskiy are in their early 30s. McDonagh is 36. Captain Victor Hedman, who hasn’t played since March, is 35.

Darren Raddysh, who is coming off a breakout 70-point season, will be a free agent.

“It sucks. You don’t get any younger that’s for sure,” Brandon Hagel said. “I have one goal on my mind every single year and I just want to win.”

The Lightning have to wait until next year to do that.

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl