TAMPA — J.J. Moser scored at 12:48 of overtime to give the Tampa Bay Lightning a 3-2 win against the Montreal Canadiens in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference First Round at Benchmark International Arena on Tuesday.
Moser scores in OT as Lightning beat Canadiens 3-2 in Game 2 and tie first-round series – NBC Sports
Anthony Cirelli won a face-off back to Moser, who skated across the blue line and down to the top of the right circle before roofing a shot over the glove of Jakub Dobes. “It’s a face-off play, the puck kind of squirts out and I tried to keep it in,” Moser said. “I skated with it and all of a sudden it opens up. Just take your time and take a shot. We talked about putting a lot more pucks on net. That’s how you score in the playoffs.”
Tampa Bay had been 0-7 in its previous seven overtime games in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. “The guys played hard, they are a determined group,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. “When there are obstacles in the way, they’ll try and get through it any way possible.”
Brandon Hagel had a goal and an assist, and Nikita Kucherov also scored for the Lightning, who are the No. 2 seed from the Atlantic Division. Cirelli had two assists, and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 25 saves.
Lane Hutson and Josh Anderson scored for the Canadiens, who are the No. 3 seed from the Atlantic. Dobes made 31 saves. “I felt like every time we were jumping on the ice with a fresh line they always started defending,” Montreal coach Martin St. Louis said. “We defended in the whole third (period). I thought we did a really good job in the first two periods playing with the puck and having poise, and it just got away from us.”
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The best-of-7 series is tied 1-1. Game 3 will be at Bell Centre in Montreal on Friday (7 p.m. ET; CBC, TVAS, SN, TNT, truTV, HBO MAX, The Spot). “Let’s be honest, going up there and being down 0-2, your margin of error keeps getting smaller and smaller,” Cooper said. “At least we kept our margin of error the same, if not even given ourselves a little bit better of a chance.”
Hagel gave Tampa Bay a 1-0 lead at 8:40 of the first period. His initial shot from the slot was blocked by Kaiden Guhle, who was playing without a stick, but the Lightning forward recovered his own rebound at the top of the left circle and beat Dobes with a slap shot to the far post. “Everyone in the room knows we’re good when we play with emotion,” Hagel said. “Not just myself, but guys who want to bring everyone into the fight, and that’s what I was trying to do a little bit. Glad to get the win, but it’s a good team over there and it’s going to be like this the entire series, so I’m excited to get to Montreal.”
Hutson tied it 1-1 with his first career playoff goal at 16:11. He scored with a one-timer from the point that went under Vasilevskiy’s blocker arm while on a power play.
Anderson gave Montreal a 2-1 lead at 18:36 of the second period after Jake Evans won a battle along the end boards. Phillip Danault picked up the puck near the left post and sent a short backhand feed out front to Anderson, who chipped it over Vasilevskiy’s glove.
Kucherov tied it 2-2 at 12:33 of the third period. Hagel’s shot from the high slot went wide of the net, but Kucherov took the puck off the end boards and tucked a wraparound inside the right post before Dobes could get across.
Montreal had a shot to win the game in regulation after Scott Sabourin was assessed a minor penalty for interference at 17:45. However, Hutson’s shot with 34 seconds remaining hit off the post. “That was huge,” Lightning forward Corey Perry said. “We’ve talked about it all season, we kill those ones. It definitely gave us some momentum going into overtime.”
NOTES: Kucherov’s goal was his first in the postseason since Game 1 of the 2023 Eastern Conference First Round. … Moser is the first player in Lightning history to have his first career playoff goal be an overtime winner. … Cirelli went 19-for-31 on face-offs.