Tampa Bay Lightning coach Jon Cooper did not hide his frustration after his team fell 3-2 to the Montreal Canadiens in Game 5. The loss on April 29 pushed Tampa Bay to the brink of elimination, with Montreal now leading the NHL first-round series 3-2.
Speaking to the media after the game, Cooper said the performance fell short of the team’s standard and called the home defeat disappointing.
“We just lost a Game 5, so there’s lots going on in my head right now,” Cooper said. “Did I think we had our best game? We clearly did not. Is it really disappointing to come home and lose? It is. This is something we should take a ton of pride in and dig our heels in and not accept.”
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Cooper pointed to missed chances that could have changed the outcome. “We had some chances to tie it. We hit some posts, and this is the game,” Cooper said, adding that small moments decided the game.
The coach highlighted a key stretch in the third period, noting how Darren Raddysh struck the post on an open net. Soon after, the puck skipped over Nikita Kucherov’s stick in a dangerous area. Within seconds, the Canadiens scored at the other end. Cooper said that the sequence felt deflating and shifted momentum early in the period.
“Raddysh hits the post, an open net, the puck just bounces over Kuch’s stick and like 40 seconds later, in the same basically end back end, it’s in our net,” Cooper said. “And so you just feel like it was a little deflating at that point, you know, at the start of the period for that to happen.
“But I thought we gave ourselves chances to score. We just didn’t. Can we do some things better? There’s no question. But it’s just the fact that we kept going down, we had to keep chasing the game. That’s not a recipe for success.”
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Despite the setbacks, Tampa Bay created enough offense to stay in the contest. The Lightning outshot Montreal 40-24 and tied the game twice. Goals from Dominic James and Jake Guentzel kept them within reach. However, they could not find a third equalizer after Alexandre Texier restored Montreal’s lead early in the third.
Lightning forward Corey Perry on the loss to the Canadiens
Montreal’s goaltender Jakub Dobes played a key role with 38 saves. He denied several high-quality chances, including multiple looks from Kucherov. Tampa Bay also failed to convert on the power play, which added pressure as they chased the game.
Montreal Canadiens goaltender Jakub Dobes (75) makes a save against the Tampa Bay Lightning in the third period during game 5 of the first round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Benchmark International Arena. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images
Forward Corey Perry also talked about the frustration, while mentioning that the group still has a chance to respond in Game 6.
“We didn’t get the job done,” Perry said. “We pushed, but it wasn’t there. It’s frustrating in our building, but luckily there’s a Game 6.”
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The series now shifts back to Montreal, where the Canadiens will try to close it out, and the Lightning will fight to extend their season.
