The Tampa Bay Lightning are all even in their Eastern Conference First Round series against the Montreal Canadiens after a series-tying 3-2 overtime win in Game 2 at Benchmark International Arena on Tuesday night.
Defenseman J.J. Moser’s first career playoff goal evened the series at one win apiece, with the next two games set for Bell Centre in Montreal on Friday and Saturday. The goal also ended Tampa Bay’s seven-game playoff losing streak in overtime games.
The Lightning had dominated the extra period, outshooting Montreal 8-0, before Anthony Cirelli won an offensive-zone face-off to the right of goalie Jakub Dobes. Moser took the puck near the left point, worked his way around to the right circle and fired through a screen. The sellout crowd of 19,092 erupted as the puck hit the back of the net to even the series.
Brandon Hagel and Nikita Kucherov had the other goals for the Lightning, and Andrei Vasilevskiy rebounded from a middling showing in Game 1 with 25 saves.
Lane Hutson scored a first-period power-play goal and Josh Anderson put Montreal ahead 2-1 late in the second period. Dobes made 31 saves.
The win at home has to be a relief for the Lightning, who were 1-10 in their previous 11 playoff games in their own building They lost three times at home to the Florida Panthers in the first round in each of the past two seasons after falling to the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2023. The last time Tampa Bay got past Round 1 was 2022, when they lost to the Colorado Avalanche in the Final while trying to win their third consecutive championship.
Lightning even series with OT win against Canadiens in Game 2
The Canadiens had the better of the play in the early going, holding the Lightning without a shot for more than eight minutes after the opening face-off. But the Bolts turned their first shot into the opening goal.
Hagel circled into the high slot and fired, but his shot hit a body and caromed to the left boards. He chased it down and fired again — but this time, the shot went through a screen and past Dobes at 8:20 to put the Lightning up 1-0.
Tampa Bay got the game’s first power play at 10:11 when Montreal’s Arber Xhekaj got the extra minor after a scrum with Yanni Gourde. But it was the Canadiens who nearly scored; Vasilevskiy stopped Jake Evans on a 2-on-1 break and the rebound caromed off the foot of Alex Newhook, who was all alone but couldn’t get his stick on the puck.
Then it was time to fill the penalty box. A huge scrum behind the Montreal net turned into a Canadiens power play after referees Frederick L’Ecuyer and Graham Skilliter handed out 11 minors — with Lightning forward Corey Perry getting the extra one.
Montreal made it 4-for-6 with the extra man in the series when Hutson’s straightaway slapper from just inside the blue line caromed off Lightning defenseman Erik Cernak and went past Vasilevskiy at 16:11.
The Canadiens couldn’t score on their next power play after a cross-checking call against Nick Paul at 17:49, and the period ended even at 1-1.
Hagel and Game 1 hero Juraj Slafkovsky of the Canadiens dropped the gloves at 5:14 of the second period and earned the first fighting majors of the series, with Hagel dropping the much-bigger Montreal forward to end the fight.
The goaltenders exchanged clutch saves with just under six minutes remaining in the period, but the Canadiens began to get the better of the play and went ahead with 1:24 left in the period. Anderson, who scored the opening goal in Game 1, got to the front of the net and converted a pass by Phillip Danault, who won a puck battle behind the net. Anderson got position between two defenders and snapped the puck past Vasilevskiy to give Montreal a 2-1 lead.
The Bolts nearly tied it five minutes into the third period when Moser beat Dobes but rang the post. They got a power-play chance shortly after when Montreal’s Ivan Demidov was called for tripping but didn’t generate much pressure.
But Kucherov lit up the crowd when he took the carom of Cirelli’s blocked shot, swooped around the back of the net and tucked the puck inside the right post at 12:33 to tie the game 2-2. It was the star forward’s first playoff goal in 17 games.
The Lightning had to survive one more threat to get to overtime. Scott Sabourin’s needless interference penalty with 2:15 left in regulation gave Montreal a late power play, Hutson teed up a straightaway slapper with just under a minute remaining that caught Vasilevskiy’s arm before plinking off the post.
Dobes was brilliant in the overtime but had no chance on Moser’s game-winner.
Key takeaways after Lightning top Canadiens 3-2 in OT
Stars come through for Bolts
You could cut the tension with a knife as the third period progressed and the Lightning continued to trail by a goal. The thought of going to Montreal down 0-2 wasn’t an appetizing one, especially after two more home losses.
But that’s when a couple of the Bolts’ stars saved the day.
Kucherov had gone 16 playoff games without a goal — since Game 1 of the 2023 first round against Toronto — before he tied the game. The NHL’s No. 2 scorer during the regular season looked like a giant eagle as he swooped in to grab the blocked shot, fly around the net and deposit the puck into a wide-open net as Dobes couldn’t go right-to-left in time.
Then it was Vasilevskiy’s turn. He preserved the tie after Sabourin’s penalty gave the Canadiens a late power play by making a pair of big stops on Hutson.
A “Gordie Howe” for Hagel
This is the 18th time the Lightning is taking part in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, but Hagel became the first player in franchise history to have a Gordie Howe Hat Trick (goal/assist/fighting major) in a postseason game.
The first-period goal was his third in the first two games, and he got the secondary helper on Kucherov’s goal. Nothing surprising about either of those.
It’s the fighting major that was out of the ordinary. Hagel had just two fighting majors during the regular season despite playing on the NHL’s fightingest team — the Lightning led the NHL with 43 majors. He was also spotting Slafkovsky nearly 40 pounds. Despite that, he landed a punch that knocked the No. 1 pick in the 2022 NHL Draft to the ice before officials broke up the fight.
Bang, Boom
The Hagel-Slafkovsky fighting majors are the only ones assessed during the first two games of this series, but that doesn’t mean there hasn’t been plenty of physicality.
There were 77 hits in Game 2 (43 for Montreal, 34 for the Lightning). That follows the 86 hits (a 44-42 edge for the Bolts) in Game 1. Tuesday’s game also saw 23 penalties, including the two fights and 14 minors for roughing.
Lightning coach Jon Cooper noted that his team had been pushed around physically in recent postseasons, and said that the reason for dressing players like Sabourin, who’s known for his physical play.
“It’s two proud teams,” Cooper said. “You have to do what you have to do to advance. Regardless of how we’re going to do it, we’re going to do it.”
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