FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, July 2nd, 2021

NOTES AND QUOTES – 2021 STANLEY CUP FINAL GAME 3 ON NBC AND PEACOCK

“Tampa thinks they can win the Stanley Cup here tonight. They’ve got it going on.” – Eddie Olczyk on Lightning’s Game 3 Performance

“They are an outstanding hockey team. Love to watch greatness, and we are watching greatness right now.” – Keith Jones on Lightning

“For Montreal to beat Tampa, they have to play almost perfect hockey…They just can’t make any mistakes.” – Pierre McGuire

“The fact of the matter is that Montreal hasn’t seen a team like Tampa all Playoffs long.” – Olczyk

STAMFORD, Conn. – July 2, 2021 – NBC Sports continued its exclusive presentation of the 2021 Stanley Cup Final tonight with Game 3 between the Tampa Bay Lightning and Montreal Canadiens from Bell Centre in Montreal, Québec, on NBC and Peacock. The Lightning won the game, 6-3, lead the series 3-0, and can win their second consecutive Stanley Cup on Monday night with coverage for Game 4 from Montreal beginning at 8 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock.

Kenny Albert, Eddie Olczyk and Pierre McGuire called the game on-site from Bell Centre along with Kathryn Tappen providing reports and contributing to pre-game and intermission coverage.

Liam McHugh, Keith Jones, Anson Carter and Patrick Sharp provided studio commentary during intermissions and post-game coverage on NBCSN from NBC Sports’ headquarters in Stamford, Conn.

Following are notes and quotes from Game 3:

POST-GAME

Jones on Lightning: “We’ve seen it before from Tampa, we shouldn’t be surprised…They bounce back. They were outstanding at the right moments in this game…They are an outstanding hockey team. Love to watch greatness, and we are watching greatness right now.”

Sharp on Canadiens: “Pretty demoralizing if you’re on the other side in the Montreal locker room. Where do you go from here? You didn’t really have a chance to win this game…The chances that they come back and win four in a row are slim to none.”

Carter: “This series is over as far as I’m concerned. I know they’ve got to play one more game — but this is all done.”

THIRD PERIOD

McGuire: “For Montreal to beat Tampa, they have to play almost perfect hockey. They made too many mistakes in the first period and they’re were chasing the game from the start. They just can’t make any mistakes.”

Olczyk: “And they need Carey Price to be on par with Andrei Vasilevskiy…So far, Vaslievskiy has outplayed Carey Price without question.”

McGuire on Lightning forward Tyler Johnson’s goal, 5-2 Tampa Bay: “Jon Cooper deserves a huge assist on that goal. He put Tyler Johnson from the left wing back to center. He’s looked so much better at the tail end of Game 2 (and tonight in Game 3).”

Albert on Lightning: “Two goals early in the first period tonight and they never looked back. The Canadiens have never had a lead in this series.”

SECOND INTERMISSION

Jones on Tampa Bay’s defense: “Tampa Bay has six defensemen that are absolutely imposing physically, they are outstanding players in all situations, and they’re just too much for the Montreal Canadiens to handle. Lots of contact and lots of offensive opportunities, led by the defensemen — and it’s not just (Victor) Hedman, it’s everybody. All six guys have been involved offensively.”

SECOND PERIOD

Olczyk on Canadiens forward Nick Suzuki’s goal, 4-2 Tampa Bay: “That’s a soft goal, a bad goal and you give Montreal some life here late in the second period. But again — you shoot the puck and you never know.”

Albert on Lightning forward Tyler Johnson’s goal, 4-1 Tampa Bay: “The crowd here in Montreal is stunned. For the second straight period, the Lightning have scored two goals in the first three-and-a-half minutes.”

Olczyk: “It’s a carbon copy of period one.”

McGuire: “The Canadiens are still stunned. They just can’t figure out what’s going on right now.”

Olczyk: “The fact of the matter is that Montreal hasn’t seen a team like Tampa all Playoffs long. They’re finding out very quickly that Tampa doesn’t need a whole heck of a lot (to strike).”

Olczyk on Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov’s goal, 3-1 Tampa Bay: “A 2-on-0. Not an easy handle, not an easy play by (Ondrej) Palat. Kucherov on the backhand, finishes it into the back of the net…World-class skill level there.”

McGuire on the Canadiens: “They’re stunned. They just got punched in the mouth.”

FIRST INTERMISSION

Sharp on the Canadiens: “What do you do when you’re down 2-0 in the series and down 2-0 at home in Game 3? You just keep playing…The top line for Montreal is showing up.”

FIRST PERIOD

Olczyk on Lightning: “Tampa thinks they can win the Stanley Cup here tonight. They’ve got it going on.”

Olczyk on Canadiens forward Phillip Danault’s goal, 2-1 Tampa Bay: “I don’t think he wanted to shoot this puck, he wanted to pass the puck to (Brandan) Gallagher the whole way…He goes post and in…The Habs have found their game.”

Albert: “When that puck hit the net, it sounded like 18,000 in the building.”

Olczyk on Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman’s goal, 2-0 Tampa Bay: “No adjustment here by Montreal. (Artturi) Lehkonen is so slow to react to move up into the slot…He’s got to move out (to defend the shot). (Phillip) Danault is asking, ‘Where are you?’ He’s so worried about the one-timer by the Steven Stamkos.”

Olczyk on Lightning defenseman Jan Rutta’s goal, 1-0 Tampa Bay: “(Carey) Price never sees it…Rutta buries it top shelf and Tampa silences the crowd here in Montreal.”

McGuire on the crowd: “There’s no way there’s only 3,500 people in this building.”

Olczyk: “There’s at least 7,000 people here.”

Olczyk on the goaltender matchup: “To this point in the series, Andrei Vasilevskiy has out-goaltended Carey Price. Price has to raise his level to give his team a chance.”

–NBC SPORTS–