Tampa Bay Lightning Drop Canadiens With Last Second Goal

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The Tampa Bay Lightning played a rough game, but a last second goal from Tyler Johnson handed the Lightning a 3-0 series lead over the Montreal Canadiens.

The Tampa Bay Lightning definitely did not play up to the standard that they set for themselves in the Second Game in this series, but when the going got tough, the tough got going.

The Tampa Bay Lightning has the opportunity to eliminate the Montreal Canadiens tomorrow night in front of their home town crowd as the Lightning win Game 3 by the score of 2-1 thanks to some very last second heroics from one Tyler Johnson.

Much like in the games that came before it, the Montreal Canadiens were the first to take a shot at the net, but a flurry of offense from the Tampa Bay Lightning, combined with a really good scoring chance, changed the tide for the Lightning.

Montreal Canadiens goaltender Carey Price was forced to make some pretty serious stops early in the period, having to deny a shot from Lightning right wing J.T. Brown and the rebound shot from center Valtteri Filppula. As much as we hate to give credit to the opposing team, Price did come up big early on.

The Tampa Bay Lightning would get the first opportunity on the Power Play as Canadiens center Tomas Plekanec was sent off for two minutes for Tripping Lightning goaltender Ben Bishop. We would be lying to you if we said it wasn’t nice to finally see the refs looking out for Bishop. He’s been run over for far too long.

Tampa Bay Lightning Head Coach Jon Cooper has said all day long that the team needs to play with the same conviction they would if they were 0-0 in the series. The Lightning has done a good job of that so far in the game as they were able to strike first blood at the 12 minute mark in the period.

Steven Stamkos would bring the puck into the zone. When coverage started to head his way, he handed the puck off to Alex Killorn who would seamlessly complete the play and find his way past Price to give the Tampa Bay Lightning the early lead.

This seems like a complete reversal of fortune from Game 2. The Tampa Bay Lightning came out of the gate with purpose, made some good scoring attempts and pulled out in front early. We don’t know about you, but this is the way we want to see the remainder of this series.

In the second period, it was the Montreal Canadiens that came out strong. Bishop had to come up huge against Alex Galchenyuk in the early moments of the period. This is the closest that the Montreal Canadiens have come to scoring so far this game.

The Tampa Bay Lightning hadn’t registered a Shot on Goal through the halfway point in the period; however, surprisingly enough the Lightning spent a lot of that time in front of Carey Price and the Montreal Canadiens’ net. At the very least, at least the Lightning has been able to keep Montreal out of the net thus far.

As the period progressed, it was quite clear that the Canadiens were dictating the pace of the game. In the second period, the Canadiens outshot the Lightning 8-3. There is no way they were going to be able to sustain themselves in the final 20 minutes of play if they continue to play with the same lack of aggression.

Unfortunately for the Lightning, the opening minutes of the third period are much the same as they were in the second. The Montreal Canadiens controlled the pace and got the first couple of scoring opportunities.

The most surprising thing to come out of tonight’s encounter is the lack of production from Tampa Bay Lightning left wing Jonathan Drouin. Drouin was brought in due to the injury sustained by Cedric Paquette in the first period of Game 2.

We all know that he has the ability to make a difference, but he just couldn’t seem to get the job done tonight. This is not going to help his case at all when it comes to proving to Tampa Bay Lightning Head Coach Jon Cooper that he deserves a spot on the game day roster.

As the third period trailed on, the Tampa Bay Lightning would do a good job at keeping the puck in the zone and eating up the clock. Unfortunately, with Montreal putting on the level of pressure that they have been in this game it was only a matter of time before someone finds their way past Ben Bishop.

Speaking of that, just over the halfway point in the period, Brendan Gallagher would score his second goal of the post season by knocking the puck right underneath Bishop’s blocker and into the back of the net. This would tie the game up for the Montreal Canadiens with just less than 10 minutes left in the period.

Tampa Bay Lightning fans slowly made their way to the edges of their seats as the time continued to tick off of the clock. The way that things were going, it looked like a foregone conclusion that this game was going to be headed to overtime, and then…it happened.

The Lightning battled in front of Carey Price. Victor Hedman brought the puck towards the net. Knowing he had no clear shot on the goal, Hedman passed the puck to Tyler Johnson. Johnson turned around and put the puck right through Price’s five hole and into the back of the net.

The official time of the goal was 19:58. This means that the Game Winning Goal crossed the goal line with just 2 seconds left in the game. It doesn’t get much more suspenseful than this one. Now, the Tampa Bay Lightning can exhale a deep sigh of relief as they collect themselves and prepare for tomorrow night.

We are sure that when they get back in the locker room tonight, Lightning Head Coach Jon Cooper will take a look at the tapes from the game and figure out what adjustments need to be made to ensure that the Lightning don’t find themselves in a similar position tomorrow night.

We are sure that exhaustion will be setting in, but the Montreal Canadiens will be feeling the same strain when they head back into the Amalie Arena. It is going to take a lot of focus and determination, but if there is anyone capable of bouncing back from a game like tonight, it is the Tampa Bay Lightning.

As we mentioned before, the Tampa Bay Lightning has an opportunity to finish off this series and send the Montreal Canadiens home with their tails between their legs, but as Tyler Johnson said after the game they are going to have to play much better tomorrow if they want to accomplish this simple goal.

The puck will drop at the Amalie Arena at 7:00 p.m. once again. This could be the most important game of this series. This means the Tampa Bay Lightning are going to need their Thunder in full force tomorrow night. You may not think so, but the volume in the Amalie Arena really drives the players to do better than their best.

The question we pose to you now…are you ready to Be The Thunder once again this series and help the Tampa Bay Lightning send the Montreal Canadiens packing? We know we are!

Next: Steven Stamkos Finally Breaks His Scoring Drought

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