TAMPA, Fla. – The Tampa Bay Lightning finally broke through their postseason slump at home on Tuesday night, evening their first-round series against the Montreal Canadiens with a 3-2 overtime victory at Benchmark International Arena.
J.J. Moser provided the winning moment, finding the back of the net 12:48 into the extra period to send the series to Montreal tied at 1-1.
Brandon Hagel was the spark plug for Tampa Bay, recording a “Gordie Howe hat trick” by picking up a goal, an assist, and a fight. Hagel’s physical play and offensive production kept the Lightning in the hunt after Montreal took leads through goals from Lane Hutson and Josh Anderson.
Nikita Kucherov came up clutch late in regulation to keep the Lightning alive. With just 7:27 remaining in the third period, Kucherov grabbed a deflected puck off Hagel’s stick and tucked in a wrap-around goal to tie the game at 2-2. It was a significant weight off the star winger’s shoulders, marking his first playoff goal since April 2023 and ending a 17-game postseason goal drought.
Andrei Vasilevskiy stood tall in the net, turning aside 25 of 27 shots to secure the win. At the other end of the ice, Montreal’s Jakub Dobes was busy all night, finishing with 31 saves in the losing effort.
The series now shifts to Montreal for the next two contests. Game 3 is scheduled for Friday night, followed by Game 4 on Sunday, as both teams look to take control of the bracket.
PRE-GAME REPORT: The Tampa Bay Lightning return to the ice tonight at the Tampa Bay Times Forum for Game 2 of their first-round series against the Montreal Canadiens, trailing 1-0. Following a 4-3 overtime loss on Sunday, the Lightning are aiming to even the best-of-seven series before the matchup shifts to Montreal.
Sunday’s opener saw Tampa Bay surge ahead in the second period with two goals in just 29 seconds, the sixth-fastest pair of goals in the franchise’s playoff history. Darren Raddysh tied the game at 1-1 on a power play, and Brandon Hagel quickly followed up to give the Lightning their first lead. Hagel finished the night with two goals, marking his second career multi-goal performance in the postseason.
The Lightning’s offense was headlined by Jake Guentzel, who recorded three assists in the loss. This matched his career playoff high for assists in a single game. Nikita Kucherov also contributed two assists, moving him to 120 career playoff helpers, just three shy of tying Jaromir Jagr for 10th place on the NHL’s all-time list.
Montreal’s victory was powered by Juraj Slafkovsky, who recorded a hat trick, including the decisive goal 82 seconds into overtime. Slafkovsky’s three goals all came on the power play, where the Canadiens went 3-for-5. Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki also registered multi-point games for Montreal, providing two assists each.
History suggests the Lightning are capable of a comeback. Tampa Bay holds a 12-11 all-time record in series where they lost Game 1, including an 8-5 record when that initial loss occurred on home ice. Furthermore, the team has won 10 of 11 playoff series that began with a 1-1 split at home.
Andrei Vasilevskiy, who is 4-2-0 with a .919 save percentage in his playoff career against Montreal, is expected to start in net. He faces a Montreal team that Tampa Bay has dominated over the last decade, posting a 24-7-3 regular-season record against them.
However, the teams split their 2025-26 regular-season series 2-2, with Montreal winning the final two meetings in March and April.
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