Following a scoreless first period, the Montreal Canadiens opened the scoring just after the halfway point of the second period.
The opening goal came after a pad save from Jakub Dobeš, which went out towards Alexandre Texier, who quickly passed the puck to Kaiden Guhle, who found Zachary Bolduc near the Tampa Bay blueline. Bloduc would hold off Lightning defender Darren Raddysh while putting the puck past Andrei Vasilevskiy, igniting a massive cheer from the fans inside the Bell Centre.
On the power play, Cole Caufield would double the Habs’ lead with 6:39 remaining in the second period. The goal came following a faceoff in the Lightning zone, after the draw was won back to Lane Hutson, who sent the puck up the boards for Nick Suzuki. The Canadiens captain would work the puck in the corner before finding Caufield in the slot, and Caufield would beat Vasilevskiy to make it 2-0.
Around two minutes remaining in the second period, Juraj Slafkovský would take a massive hit in open ice, forcing him to head to the dressing room.
With under a minute remaining in the second period, Jake Guentzel would redirect a cross-ice pass from J.J. Moser, cutting the Canadiens’ lead down to 2-1. The goal would come while both teams were playing four-on-four.
Following a controversial high-sticking penalty, the Lightning would level the game inside the first two minutes of the third period. The goal was scored by Brandon Hagel.
