In Game 1 of the Eastern Conference First Round, Juraj Slafkovský put on a postseason masterclass in Tampa, completing a hat trick with the overtime winner to lift the Canadiens to victory. The big winger opened his account late in the second with a power-play one-timer, then added another on the man advantage early in the third to give Montreal a brief lead. After Tampa Bay tied it, Slafkovský struck again at 1:22 of overtime — snapping a heavy shot from the left circle on a power play, assisted by Lane Hutson and Nick Suzuki — to secure the dramatic 4-3 win. The hat trick gave the Canadiens a 1-0 series lead on the road and kicked off what became an incredibly tight, seven-game series in which every contest was decided by a single goal.