NHL playoffs: Can the Montreal Canadiens make it to the next round?

MONTREAL – It’s do or die for the Montreal Canadiens.

If they don’t win Game 4 against the Tampa Bay Lightning Thursday night, it’s good-bye to the Stanley Cup this year.

Fans in Montreal agree that the Canadiens have definitely stepped up their game, despite Wednesday’s last second goal that literally gave Tampa Bay a 3-0 lead over the Habs in the Eastern Conference semi-finals.

“They have to win,” said Michael Gaudreau.

“They just have to win and they have to keep focus and play like when they were younger, play with their heart.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: <strong>"They just have to win and they have to keep focus and play like when they were younger, play with their heart."</strong>

The Canadiens have yet to win a single game against the Lightning this season.

READ MORE: Prust publicly apologizes to Watson for comments about referee

The two teams have faced off eight times so far. Six of those losses occurred in the last 58 days.

READ MORE: Are Habs fans in Laval the craziest Canadiens fans?

The Habs lost all five regular season games, and now face elimination as Tampa Bay looks to sweep the Habs in the race to the first to four wins.

“I think that it’s over but we should be thankful for the season we had,” said Douglas Purdy.

“Carey Price won all the awards. Subban. We’re just missing something. We’re missing a piece of the puzzle.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: <strong>"Carey Price won all the awards. Subban. We're just missing something. We're missing a piece of the puzzle."</strong>

The battle between these two teams does seem like an “all or nothing” situation when it comes to the playoff series.

READ MORE: Tampa gets another shot at Montreal in Eastern Conference semifinals

Montreal swept the Lightning in the first round of the playoffs last year.

The last time the Canadiens met the Lightning in the 2004 playoffs, it was Tampa Bay who swept Montreal.

READ MORE: Canadiens vs Lightning: 5 keys to the 2nd-round NHL playoff series

Yet, even if the Habs are able to break the curse of Tampa Bay and win Thursday’s game, there’s still a long road to the Eastern Conference Finals.

They’ll still have to win Games 5, 6 and 7 just to advance to the next round.

READ MORE: Tampa Bay scores with 1.1 seconds left to put Canadiens on brink of elimination

It’s not impossible, but it’s definitely not going to be an easy battle.

rachel.lau@globalnews.ca
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