NHL moves Canadiens-Lightning Game 7 to an unusual start time

The NHL setting Sunday’s Canadiens-Lightning start for 6 p.m. ET changes the rhythm of the day, but not the real pressure point.

Montreal had the Bell Centre, the lead in the series, and the chance to close. Tampa Bay left with a 1-0 overtime win instead.

Goncalves scored at 9:03 of overtime, turning one loose puck near the crease into a full reset for both benches.

Andrei Vasilevskiy made 30 saves, and that matters more than the TV window. Montreal now has to solve the one player who just stole its cleanest closing chance.

The official note landed cleanly from Elliotte Friedman: Sunday’s Game 7 will be at 6 p.m. ET.

That 6 p.m. start gives Jon Cooper’s group a tighter home-day setup, a louder early building, and less time for Montreal to settle after the flight.

The Canadiens have already shown they can win in Tampa. Their road record was 24-9-8 in the regular season, and that’s not a small detail now.

But Game 7 is different. The Lightning were 50-26-6 with a +59 goal differential, and they get the last change in their own rink.

That puts St-Louis under the microscope. His top six has to create cleaner looks, and his bottom six can’t spend shifts pinned below the dots.

The question is simple: can Montreal turn its forecheck into controlled entries before Tampa’s blue line gets set?

Because if this becomes another goalie duel, Vasilevskiy has already changed the series once.

The schedule change is the headline. The real story is whether Montreal uses the earlier puck drop as a reset, or lets Tampa turn it into another wave.

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