On Monday, the Montreal Canadiens put the Tampa Bay Lightning on the ropes by winning game three and taking a commanding 3-0 lead in their best-of-seven series.

In the history of all professional sports, only four teams have managed to make the comeback and win the series. Those include the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs, who stunned the Red Wings in the Stanley Cup playoffs; the 1975 NY Islanders who did the same to the Pittsburgh Penguins; the 2004 Boston Red Sox who upended their hated rivals the NY Yankees; and most recently the 2010 Philadelphia Flyers, who overcame the Boston Bruins. The good news for the Lightning is that three of those four instances are related to hockey teams. The season stats also indicate that Tampa is more than capable of winning four straight and that Montreal can also lose four straight.

The Canadiens are certainly beatable and the team even experienced some lengthy losing streaks throughout the 2013-14 season. From Nov. 1 through 7, the team lost four straight against the Minnesota Wild, Colorado Avalanche, St. Louis Blues and Ottawa Senators. However, three of those games were on the road and three were against the mighty Western Conference, which had been dominating the East at that point in the season. The team endured another four-game losing streak in January when it was defeated by the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Detroit Red Wings and the Washington Capitals; in all of those games the team conceded four or more goals and three of them were on the road.

The big takeaway here is that Montreal has not endured any of these lengthy stretches when playing at home. Montreal will play two of its remaining four games against Tampa Bay at home where the team accumulated a record of 23 wins, 13 regulation losses and five shootout/overtime defeats.

Inversely, the Lightning obtained a four game winning streak in November this year by topping such teams as the Carolina Hurricanes, the St. Louis Blues, the Edmonton Oilers and the Detroit Red Wings; two of those teams did not make the playoffs this season. The team also managed a five-game winning streak in December by beating Detroit, the NY Islanders, the Nashville Predators, the Florida Panthers and the Hurricanes; four of those teams did not earn a berth in the postseason in 2013-14. Another five-game winning streak came in March with victories over Vancouver, Florida, New Jersey, Ottawa and Toronto; every single one of those teams failed to make the postseason. The team also finished the season with four-straight wins over Toronto, Philadelphia, Washington and Columbus.

The loss in Game 3 could not be pinned on a poor effort from Tampa Bay. While the side was woeful in Game 2 at home, Tampa managed to score a goal that was wrongly disallowed and has gotten production from its top player. Steven Stamkos has two goals and two assists while top defender Victor Hedman has two assists in three games.

Ultimately, goaltending has been the deciding factor. Ben Bishop was terrific for Tampa Bay all season long while backup Anders Lindback languished with .891 save percentage in 23 games played throughout the regular season. His below average save percentage has not improved in the playoffs has he has only stopped 88.8 percent of the shots he has faced thus far in this series. Meanwhile the Canadiens Olympic gold medal-winning keeper Carey Price has been outstanding after a mediocre turn in the first game. The team could be getting Bishop soon, but it is likely too little, too late.

Can Tampa Bay overcome the four 3-0 deficit?