The Tampa Bay Lightning lost 3-2 to the Montreal Canadiens in Game 3 of their playoff series, with Lane Hutson scoring the overtime winner. Andrei Vasilevskiy made several key saves but couldn't stop the decisive shot.
Key points
Lightning lost 3-2 to Canadiens in Game 3
Lane Hutson scored the overtime winner
Andrei Vasilevskiy made key saves
Canadiens lead the series 2-1
Alexandre Texier assisted on the winning goal
Tampa Bay LightningMontreal CanadiensAndrei VasilevskiyLane Hutson
Lightning come up short in Game 3, lose 3-2 to Canadiens in OT: Takeaways
Eric Bolte-Imagn Images
Goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy did everything he could to carry the Tampa Bay Lightning past the Montreal Canadiens in Game 3 of their Eastern Conference First Round series at Bell Centre on Friday night. It wasnât enough.
Vasilevskiy denied three Montreal breakaways in regulation, but he never saw Montreal defenseman Lane Hutsonâs slap shot from the right point as it sailed past a host of bodies and into the net 2:08 into overtime to give the Canadiens a 3-2 victory and a 2-1 lead in the best-of-7 series.
Alexandre Texier, who opened the scoring early in the first period, worked the puck back to Hutson, and the 2025 Calder Trophy winner teed up a rocket that found its way through a half-dozen bodies and into the net.
Brayden Point and Brandon Hagel scored for the Lightning. Hagelâs goal early in the second period put Tampa Bay ahead 2-1, but Kirby Dach got the Canadiens even at 12:43. Vasilevskiy finished with Montreal rookie faced only 17 shots, stopping 15.
Q&A
What was the final score of the Lightning vs Canadiens Game 3?
The final score was 3-2 in favor of the Montreal Canadiens after overtime.
Who scored the winning goal for the Canadiens in Game 3?
Lane Hutson scored the winning goal for the Canadiens 2:08 into overtime.
How did Andrei Vasilevskiy perform in Game 3 against the Canadiens?
Andrei Vasilevskiy made several crucial saves, denying three breakaways, but ultimately could not stop the overtime goal.
What is the current series standing after Game 3 between the Lightning and Canadiens?
The Canadiens lead the best-of-7 series 2-1 after their victory in Game 3.
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It was the third straight overtime game in the series, a first for the Lightning since entering the NHL in 1992. The Canadiens hadnât gone to OT in three straight playoff games since Games 2, 3 and 4 of the 1993 Stanley Cup Final â they won all three on the way to their most recent championship. Â It was the first time any NHL playoff series opened with three straight overtime games since the Boston Bruins and Washington Capitals did it in 2021.
The teams split OT wins in Games 1 and 2 at Benchmark International Arena, with the Canadiens winning 4-3 in the opener and Tampa Bay evening the series with a 3-2 win in Game 2. The Lightning have not won consecutive playoff games since the 2022 Eastern Conference Final against the New York Rangers.
They will try to even the series Sunday night in Montreal.
NHL: Stanley Cup Playoffs-Tampa Bay Lightning at Montreal Canadiens
Eric Bolte-Imagn Images
The sellout crowd of 20,962 was roaring from the moment Canadiens legend Yvan Cournoyer carried a torch to lead Montreal onto the ice. It got even louder when their heroes grabbed a quick lead.
Zach Bolduc carried the puck into the right circle and saw Texier coming late down the middle, with no Lightning defender there to pick him up. Bolduc put a pass right on Texierâs stick for a perfect shot from the slot that caught the top corner past Vasilevskiyâs glove at 4:53, putting Montreal up 1-0.
But that lead didnât last long. Dobes was called for tripping Yanni Gourde, and the Lightning capitalized at 7:42 when Point found space in the slot, took a pass from Jake Guentzel and one-timed it into the net for a 1-1 tie.
The Lightning got another power play 30 seconds after the goal when Dach was called for tripping but generated little. Montreal had one good chance after Nikita Kucherov took a needless tripping penalty at 12:23, and the Lightning again failed to convert after Mike Matheson took a hooking penalty at 19:11.
Tampa Bay dominated play for the first few minutes of the second period and went ahead 2-1 at 4:47. Hagel picked off a pass by Jake Evans in the neutral zone, raced into the left circle and surprised Dobes with a quick shot that beat him to the short side for his fourth goal of the series.
Vasilevskiy preserved the lead just over a minute later by stopping Montreal rookie Ivan Demidov on a breakaway. Demidov, who led all NHL rookies with 62 points during the regular season, gave the Lightning their fourth power play at 9:59 when he carelessly high-sticked Ryan McDonagh, but Tampa Bay couldnât capitalize.
That set the stage for the Canadiens to tie the score. Vasilevskiy stopped Dach from the slot, but the puck went to the right boards. Dach tracked it down and fired through a maze of bodies; Vasilevskiy never saw the puck, which appeared to go off McDonagh and into the net at 12:43 to make it 2-2.
Tampa Bay spent most of the rest of the period killing penalties. Hagel was called for holding the stick at 14:05, Emil Lilleberg was sent off for hooking at 16:14 and Darren Raddysh took a high-sticking minor at 19:29.
Montreal outshot the Bolts 13-7 in the middle period, and Tampa Bay didnât have a shot on goal for the last 13:25.
Vasilevskiy was the biggest reason the Lightning got to overtime despite being outshot 21-11 in the final two periods, including 8-4 in the third, when he faced two more breakaways.
Cole Caufield, a 51-goal scorer during the regular season, came in alone at 3:29 but misfired as Vasilevskiy came out to challenge him. Josh Anderson took a breakaway pass coming out of the penalty box midway through the period, but Vasilevskiy wouldnât bite on a fake and stopped his close-in wrister.
The Bolts managed little pressure on Dobes and had only three high-danger scoring chances through 60 minutes, according to Natural Stat Trick. Hutsonâs game-winner came on the only shot in overtime.
Key takeaways after Canadiens top Lightning in OT to win Game 3
Wasting a Vasy gem
NHL: Stanley Cup Playoffs-Tampa Bay Lightning at Montreal Canadiens
Eric Bolte-Imagn Images
The Lightning couldnât have asked for any more than they got from their future Hall of Fame goaltender. He did everything but stand on his head while they managed all of five shots on goal after Hagelâs goal put them ahead ahead 2-1.
Dachâs tying goal came after âVasyâ made a huge stop on him â and as was the case on Hutsonâs game-winner, No. 88 never saw the shot because of the array of bodies in front of him.
Tampa Bay generated almost nothing offensively after the first five minutes of the second period, and only Vasilevskiyâs play gave them a chance to win.
Hagel and linemates need help
The Lightning scored eight goals in the first three games of this series. Hagel has four of them, assisted on a fifth and has been on the ice for all eight. For good measure, he also became the first player in Lightning history to have a Gordie Howe Hat Trick (goal/assist/fighting major) in Game 2.
His goal in Game 3 was an unassisted gem, ending with a terrific shot that caught Dobes completely by surprise.
Hagel and his linemates, Guentzel (five points, all assists) and Nikita Kucherov (four points; one goal, three assists) have 14 points. The other three lines combined have three (Pointâs goal and two assists by Anthony Cirelli in Game 2. Thatâs not a formula for playoff success.
Too many penalties
The Lightningâs penalty-killers can use the day off before Sundayâs game.
Tampa Bay did a terrific job killing off all four Montreal power plays in Game 3, including three in a span of just over five minutes late in the second period. They limited the Canadiens to five shots on goal during the four advantages and generally succeeded in keeping Montreal to the outside. It was a big change from earlier in the series, when the Lightning surrendered four power-play goals on the Canadiensâ first six chances.
But the eight minutes of power-play time for the Canadiens were eight minutes that Tampa Bay had to keep top offensive players such as Kucherov on the bench. He played just 41 seconds during a 9:59 span bridging the second and third periods â most of which came with Tampa Bay playing a man down. Not having your top players on the ice in a tie game is no way to succeed, especially in the playoffs.
