Lane Hutson scored the game-winner on the first shot in overtime. This is now the first playoff series since the Boston Bruins and Washington Capitals in 2021 to start with three straight overtime games.
Montreal outshot Tampa 28-17 as both teams combined for 67 hits and 30 penalty minutes.
Recap & Highlights
Both teams came out of the gate ready to fire as the scoring started within a handful of minutes after puck-drop.
Alexandre Texier scored his first of the playoffs thanks to a beautiful assist from Zachary Bolduc to make it 1-1.
A minute after Texier's goal, goalie Jakub Dobes would commit the first penalty of the game after he got called for tripping, leaving Tampa Bay to take advantage on their first power play of the game.
Brayden Point scored his first goal of the playoffs to tie it all up 1-1. Jake Guenztel picked up his fifth assist of the playoffs, while Nikita Kucherov tallied his third.
Point became the second-fastest player in Lightning history to reach 90 playoff points (95 games), second to only Kucherov (87 games).
Montreal's Kirby Dach and Tampa's Kucherov would both follow up the goal with a pair of tripping penalties, each four minutes apart.
Mike Matheson (MTL) would commit a hooking penalty on Braden Hagel with just 49 seconds left in the first as Tampa carried over their power play into the second frame with 1:11 still remaining.
Despite failing on the power play to start the second, the Lightning would strike a second time.
Hagel scored his fourth goal of the playoffs to go up 2-1.
Dobes committed his second penalty of the game following Hagel's goal, along with Tampa's Erik Cernak, as both got rung up on unsportmanlike minors, leaving both teams with a 4-on-4.
Montreal's Demidov had a breakaway chance, but Vasilevskiy denied him. Demidov would record the Habs' fifth penalty of the game, giving Tampa their fourth power play.
But the Habs wouldn't stay down as Kirby Dach scored his first of the playoffs to tie it up 2-2 with just over seven minutes left in the second.
Much like the Lightning heading into the second, the Habs would be the ones rolling into the third period on the power play following a two-minute minor for high-sticking by Darren Raddysh, but nothing came from it.
Both teams entered the third period with a combined 10 penalties for 20 minutes and eight power plays (TB- 1/4, MTL- 0/4).
After going almost the entire first 10 minutes of the third period without a penalty, Montreal's Josh Anderson would get a two-minute minor for high-sticking, but the Habs would fight off the Lightning's fifth power play of the night.
Anderson would come out of the box on a breakaway attempt, but Vasilevskiy would deny his third 1-on-1 of the game; the second one was earlier on Cole Caufield.
Emil Lilleberg and Zemgus Girgensons for Tampa, and Phillip Danault and Arber Xhekaj for Montreal, all got sent to the sin bin with 3:58 left in the game after a big scrum in front of the net.
A crew had to clean up the blood from behind the net after Girgensons elbow Danault in the nose as they went down to the ice.
Neither team got it done in regulation, as it went to overtime, where the Habs finished things off.
