@jayRecher
Josh Anderson scored 3:57 into overtime to keep his team's season alive as the Montreal Canadiens defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-2 in Game 4 on Monday night at the Bell Centre in Montreal.
Tampa Bay still leads the series 3-1 with Game 5 back at Amalie Arena on Wednesday night.
The Lightning had a golden opportunity at the end of regulation and in overtime to win the game and their second consecutive Stanley Cup but were unable to capitalize.
Ondrej Palat was caught with a high stick by Montreal captain Shea Weber which drew blood that gave Tampa Bay a four-minute power play with 1:01 left in the game.
The Bolts had some decent looks, but they were unable to get a puck past Habs netminder Carey Price.
The Lightning dominated for the majority of the opening period, but it was Montreal who got on the board first.
On only their second shot of the period, Anderson took a pass from Nick Suzuki behind the net and snapped one past Bolts goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy to give Montreal a 1-0 lead at 5:40.
Tampa Bay had a chance to tie it up on the power play later on in the 1st, but the closest they came to a goal was a shot from Brayden Point that rang off the crossbar.
Montreal came out with a purpose in the 2nd period and really picked up the physical aspect of the game. Every time Point & Nikita Kucherov touched the puck, they were hit by a Canadiens player.
The Lightning nearly tied it up on the man-advantage -- it was Victor Hedman this time that drew iron -- hitting the post just moments before the tripping call to Joel Armia expired.
The Bolts, however, did find the equalizer before the second intermission.
And guess which line it was?
Barclay Goodrow, on that relentless third line, scored at the 17:20 mark to tie the score at one apiece after some masterful work from Ryan McDonagh.
The Lightning defenseman did a fantastic job keeping the puck in the zone, then after a shot by Blake Coleman, McDonagh sent a no-look pass to Goodrow, who fired it past Montreal Price for the equalizer.
Alexander Romanov, who was inserted into the lineup before Game 4, threw a wrister on net at 8:48 of the 3rd that found its way past Vasilevskiy to give Montreal a 2-1 lead, but Tampa Bay answered back exactly five minutes later.
Racing into the Canadiens zone, Mathieu Joseph feathered a pass to his linemate Maroon, and big Pat did the rest as he beat Price to tie the game at two.
Vasilevskiy stopped 18 of the 21 shots he saw on the evening. Price stopped 32 of 34.
*****
SCORING SUMMARY
1st Period
- Montreal - Anderson - (Suzuki, Caufield) - 5:40
2nd Period
- Tampa Bay - Goodrow - (McDonagh, Coleman) - 17:20
3rd Period
- Montreal - Romanov - (Evans) - 8:48
- Tampa Bay - Maroon - (Joseph, Johnson) - 13:48
Overtime
- Montreal - Anderson - (Caufield) - 3:57
*****
PENALTY SUMMARY
1st Period
- Tampa Bay - Point - (Roughing) - 16:33
- Montreal - Evans - (Interference) - 16:33
- Montreal - Edmundson - (Slashing) - 17:59
- Montreal - Edmundson - (Unsportsmanlike Conduct) - 20:00
- Tampa Bay - Maroon - (Unsportsmanlike Conduct) - 20:00
2nd Period
- Tampa Bay - Point - (High Sticking) - 5:50
- Montreal - Perry - (Hooking) - 9:43
- Montreal - Armia - (Tripping) - 14:28
3rd Period
- Tampa Bay - Goodrow - (Roughing) - 7:42
- Tampa Bay - Gourde - (Roughing) - 7:42
- Tampa Bay - Coleman - (Roughing) - 7:42
- Montreal - Petry - (Roughing) - 7:42
- Montreal - Chiarot - (Roughing) - 7:42
- Montreal - Anderson - (Roughing) - 7:42
- Montreal - DOUBLE MINOR - Weber - (High Sticking) - 18:59
Overtime
NONE
PHOTO : Getty Images