TAMPA — Before setting up one of the most dramatic goals in playoff history Wednesday night, Victor Hedman said he had no clue how much time was left on the clock when he got the puck.
The score tied, Hedman, trailing on the play, yelled hard at Ondrej Palat, who entered the Montreal zone on the right before feeding the 6-foot-6 Swede atop the left circle.
"He found me," Hedman said.
Three seconds.
Hedman thought about shooting, but Montreal defenseman Andrei Markov desperately dove onto the ice for a block.
Two seconds.
"It seemed like they had seven guys on the ice," Canadiens defenseman P.K. Subban said.
Tyler Johnson, the Lightning's postseason hero, drove the net, right in front of MVP finalist goalie Carey Price, seeing a miniscule passing lane.
1.6 seconds.
"I was praying (the puck) was going to come to me," Johnson said.
Of course it did. Johnson redirected Hedman's spectacular pass between Price's legs with 1.1 seconds left to lift the Lightning to a 2-1 win in Game 3 of its Eastern Conference semifinal series.
The sellout crowd of 19,204 went nuts, having witnessed one of just four winning goals to have been scored in the final two seconds of an NHL playoff game. The Lightning is up 3-0 in the best-of-seven series, with a chance to sweep in tonight's Game 4.
"You're just in disbelief," captain Steven Stamkos said. "Like, 'How did we pull out that one?' It's almost like pulling a rabbit out of a hat."
"Lucky," Johnson said. "I must have done something right. Just don't know what it is."
It was a crushing blow to the Canadiens, who were the better, more desperate team for most of the night. But goalie Ben Bishop kept the Lightning in the game, making 30 saves for his fifth straight playoff victory.
"He was a big reason — probably the reason — we won the game," Stamkos said.
The Lightning was hoping to "go for the jugular" Wednesday night, having taken the first two games in Montreal. But despite the Lightning taking a 1-0 lead midway through the first period on a goal by Montreal native Alex Killorn, the Canadiens controlled play, hitting three posts along the way. The Lightning was held without a shot for nearly 19 minutes at one point and had just 19 overall.
"We're not very proud of the way we played," Stamkos said.
The Lightning seemed to be just holding on, and on the Canadiens' 27th shot, they tied it on a great second effort by Brendan Gallagher midway through the third. "That woke us up," Lightning defenseman Anton Stralman said.
Stamkos said the Lightning's best shifts might have been its final two, during which it peppered the Canadiens with pressure. And just like Hedman found Johnson for the winner in overtime in Game 4 against Detroit in the first round, he did it again.
Wing Brenden Morrow said Palat went "airborne" in the celebration, because he loves to jump, and "euphoria" took over the bench. Coach Jon Cooper looked up to the sky, pumping his first.
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Explore all your options"I can't remember who was behind me," Morrow said, "but I thought I was going to get a cut Achilles, he was coming so high in the air. Everyone was bouncing around."
Said Hedman: "When we were celebrating, I looked up at the clock, and it was at zero. I'm like, 'There's no way.' "
Lightning | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
Canadiens | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Lightning | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
Canadiens | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
First Period—1, Tampa Bay, Killorn 3 (Stamkos), 12:00. Penalties—Plekanec, Mon (tripping), 7:24; Emelin, Mon (interference), 15:50; Filppula, TB (holding), 18:56.
Second Period—None. Penalties—None.
Third Period—2, Montreal, Gallagher 2 (Gilbert, Pateryn), 10:03. 3, Tampa Bay, Johnson 8 (Hedman, Palat), 19:58. Penalties—Stamkos, TB (tripping), 4:22; Pacioretty, Mon (tripping), 7:24. Shots on Goal—Montreal 8-8-15—31. Tampa Bay 6-3-10—19. Power-play opportunities—Montreal 0 of 2; Tampa Bay 0 of 3. Goalies—Montreal, Price 4-5-0 (19 shots-17 saves). Tampa Bay, Bishop 7-3-0 (31-30).