Even it up.
The Tampa Bay Lightning on Sunday silenced the Bell Centre and knotted their Stanley Cup Playoffs series 2-2 to regain home ice advantage and turn their Round 1 matchup against the Montreal Canadiens into a best-of-three games.
Not even a 2-0 deficit kept the Lightning down in Game 4. The visiting Bolts overcame two Canadiens goals in a 3 minute, 23 second span midway through the second period, scoring three unanswered goals—including two from Brandon Hagel—for the comeback victory.
“We're just a resilient group,” Lightning forward Jake Guentzel said. “We've been through a lot this year, and there's not a lot of circumstances that we haven’t gone through. There was no panic in our room and around our bench. We just felt like we were playing well, we just had to get one shot to go in. And obviously once we got one, it kind of felt like the game was coming to us.”
Zachary Bolduc and an unfortunate bounce for the visitors made it 1-0 Montreal 10:06 into the second period after a scoreless first. The Canadiens forward entered the zone on a 1-on-1 rush and was pokechecked by goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy, but the puck bounced into Bolduc’s body and caromed into the net.
The Canadiens then doubled their advantage a few minutes later on a Cole Caufield power-play bury at the net.
One of the league’s best comeback teams in the regular season took over from there. Guentzel cut the deficit in half with less than a minute remaining in the second period at 4-on-4 when he left the puck for JJ Moser at the right point and flew to the left post, potting the return feed from Moser with less than 55 seconds remaining.
“That was a huge 4-on-4,” forward Yanni Gourde said of the 2-1 tally. “Jake made a great play holding onto the puck and it kind of gave us a little bit of relief seeing that puck go in late in the second.”
The goal came just moments after defenseman Max Crozier delivered the biggest hit of the playoffs, crushing Canadiens forward Juraj Slafkovsky in the neutral zone as the latter accepted a pass.
“That's a big time hit, getting everyone into the game,” Guentzel said. “The bench got fired up, and sometimes something like that can change a game. We ended up scoring right after but it was just a great hit by Crozier.”
Crozier’s hit came in his first appearance for the team this postseason, one in which he finished with 11:54 time on ice, two shots on goal and the monstrous hit.
“I think it was just a clean, solid check,” Crozier said. “I was able to time it up right, and it felt good.”
Hagel took over from there, tying the game 1:40 into the third period on the power play. Hagel got to the netfront for the tap-in on a Nikita Kucherov pass from near the right goalpost.
The goal made Hagel the third Lightning player in franchise history to open a playoff series (Steven Stamkos 2024, Vincent Lecavalier 2007) with goals in four straight games and made the team’s first playoff multi-goal comeback since 2022 possible.
“The way that game was going, I felt we deserved a little bit better of a fate, and if we just kept going, something would turn for us,” coach Jon Cooper said. “Sure enough the hit, the 4-on-4, the power play, and all of a sudden, we're right back in it. There's different levels to 2-0 leads, and I just thought that we were playing well enough that it shouldn't have been two, but it was. But we could come back."
Hagel put a bow on the comeback effort with the game-winner, this one near the net with 4:53 to play. Kucherov fired a quick shot to the net, where the puck deflected off Hagel and into the cage behind Montreal goalie Jakub Dobes to make it 3-2.
Hagel now has six goals this postseason to lead the NHL, his latest silencing a usually deafening Bell Centre crowd on a night in which Tampa Bay held the Canadiens to nine shots over the final two periods.
“This is the best time of year. I mean, it doesn't matter where you're playing, you’ve got to embrace these types of atmospheres. You live to play in moments like this. This is why you want to get into the playoffs,” Hagel said.
“In the regular season, you get to go into buildings and you're happy when you're in a building that's loud and fun to play in. When you get to the playoffs, it's always like that. They’ve got passionate fans. It's fun to play here and puts a little chip on your shoulder. I think just playing in the playoffs and being a part of an atmosphere like that…These are the moments you have to embrace.”
Hagel’s two goals co-led the team on offense alongside Guentzel, Moser and Kucherov, all with two points. Vasilevskiy finished with 16 saves, six of which came while shorthanded in the first period.
Game 5 is set for Wednesday back in Tampa at Benchmark International Arena.
Benjamin’s Three Stars:
- Brandon Hagel, TBL (2 Goals)
- Nikita Kucherov, TBL (2 Assists)
- Jake Guentzel, TBL (Goal, Assist)
