The Tampa Bay Lightning played as good of a hockey game as you can play in the playoffs. Yet unfortunately, they’re going home regardless.
On Sunday, the Lightning lost Game 7 of their first round playoff matchup against the Montreal Canadiens in a wild turn of fortune. Despite outshooting the Canadiens 29-9, the Lightning lost 2-1 after Alex Newhook gave Montreal the late third period lead on an incredibly bizarre sequence of events.
With less than nine minutes to play, the Canadiens were set up in the Lightning end on one of their only major moments of extended pressure in the attacking zone. Montreal defenseman Lane Hutson shot a puck that went high off the glass, landing behind Andrei Vasilevskiy’s cage. Newhook was in the right position at the right time to take the bounce off the ice and backhand it off of Vasilevskiy and into the net for the lead.
It’s a truly stunning sequence of events that feels like a one-in-a-million chance that has to be seen to be believed.
ALEX NEWHOOK PUTS THE HABS BACK IN THE LEAD!! 😱 #Game7#StanleyCup
🇺🇸: @NHL_On_TNT
🇨🇦: @Sportsnet & @TVASportspic.twitter.com/6AbrpCrpIM— NHL (@NHL) May 4, 2026
The Lightning had the pressure on the Canadiens all game long, so to bow out of the playoffs on this kind of goal has to be excruciating. Not only that, the Lightning now have exited the playoffs without winning a round for four straight seasons since losing the Stanley Cup Final to the Colorado Avalanche in 2022.
It’s going to be a long summer for the folks in Tampa Bay after this one.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: Lightning’s playoff hopes ended on brutally unlucky Game 7 goal