Monday, 4 a.m.
It ended with their best weapon, Nikita Kucherov, taking their last shot.
He missed.
As much as anything else, you can blame the shortcomings of the Tampa Bay Lightning on that. In the end, there was just little Kucherov for the Bolts, and too much Montreal.
The Canadiens slammed shut the door on the Lightning series with a 2-1 Game Seven victory. It was the fourth straight season that Tampa Bay has been ousted in the first round.
It was the third game the Canadiens have won in Tampa's Benchmark International Arena.
In the end, Montreal was one goal better than the Lightning. Or, you could suggest that the job the Canadiens did on Kucherov made them better.
Kucherov was one of the top scorers in the league this year. But in the playoffs, he went scoreless for the final three games. He didn't score goal in the last four.
As much as Kucherov had led the Bolts, that hurt.
Montreal allowed one goal in their Game Seven win, that to Dominic James in the second period.
Monreal, meanwhile, had no shots at all in the second period, only four in the first two periods and nine for the full game.
Still, Nick Suzuki scored in the fisrt period and Alex Newhook in the third to win.
Montreal advances to play Buffalo in the second round. Tampa Bay, of course, goes home.