The Backcheck: Lightning drop Game 3 in overtime

Following a lopsided loss in Game 2 at Scotiabank Arena, the Tampa Bay Lightning needed a response in Game 3 on home ice. While the response was there in terms of the Bolts' play, the result didn't come, as Tampa Bay dropped Game 3 in overtime, 4-3.

The contest featured another goal early in the first period when Toronto opened the scoring 3:24 into the frame. After the Bolts got caught too deep in the offensive zone, the Leafs dashed down the ice on an odd man rush before Noel Acciari got a clean look from the slot and beat Andrei Vasilevskiy to put the Bolts in an early 1-0 hole.
But despite falling behind, the Lightning refused to let Toronto grab the momentum and answered with a goal of their own just 1:26 later.
After Brandon Hagel crossed over the Toronto blue line and entered the offensive zone, he sent a pass toward the top of the right circle for Alex Killorn, who then sent a backhand pass across the slot, where Anthony Cirelli collected the puck and fired a quick shot past Ilya Samsonov to tie the game at one.
With 8:50 remaining in the opening frame, Toronto regained the lead when Auston Matthews redirected a shot from Mitch Marner that ended up flying past Vasilevskiy and into the top shelf to make it a 2-1 game.
But again, the Lightning had an answer, this time from Hagel.
Collecting a loose puck in the offensive zone, Hagel made a nice move around Ryan O'Reilly and sent a backhand towards the goal that was scooped up by Corey Perry. Skating behind the Leafs net, Perry sent a pass back to Hagel at the right circle, where he fired a quick shot on goal that ended up underneath Samsonov.

At the time, the official didn't see the shot enter the net, but Nick Paul, who was right at the top of the crease, saw the puck over the goal line and began to celebrate. The officials took a quick look at the replay, which showed the puck completely across the line, tying the game 2-2 at the 19:28 mark of the first.
Then, in the second period, the Bolts grabbed their first lead of the night off a beautiful goal from Darren Raddysh, the first of his NHL playoff career.
Following a clean faceoff win from Steven Stamkos in the offensive zone, Nikita Kucherov dropped a backhand pass for Raddysh, who skated behind the Toronto net and fought through a check from Jake McCabe.
From there, Raddysh curled towards the goal at the left circle and ripped a quick wrister top shelf to give Tampa Bay a 3-2 lead with 6:26 remaining in the middle frame.
The Lightning dominated the second period, and as that dominant play rolled on, it looked as though Tampa Bay may take a 4-2 lead into the intermission.
With the Bolts on the power play, a clearing attempt from TJ Brodie deflected off Brayden Point in front of the net and ended up under the left pad of Samsonov, who had no clue where the puck was.
Samsonov never covered the puck. The puck deflected off Point, rolled off the right pad of Samsonov, and ended up right between his legs before Point jammed it into the back of the net. But once the official lost sight of the puck, he blew the play dead.
After they took a second look at the replay, the official claimed, "The puck was covered, therefore there is no goal." But the puck was never covered.
"I have zero idea why he blew the whistle," said Lightning head coach Jon Cooper. "It's shocking. The entire building, there was 20,000 people saw it was sitting right there. What I don't get is I don't know what the ref had to gain by blowing the whistle.
"Listen, that's not why we lost. You can look back now, but I just don't get it. You go through the league of quick whistles, that has to be the number one in the league.
"I just didn't know what he was gaining by blowing it so fast. It was clearly, the way the puck was delivered to the net, it was bouncing all over the place.
"Obviously unfortunate for us, but again, not why we lost. It helped, but that's not why we lost."
Following the disallowed goal, the Bolts headed to the locker room with the 3-2 lead and one period to go.
Then, with 15 minutes remaining in the third period, things got ugly.
As Point and Morgan Rielly both pursued a loose puck in the corner, the two collided and Rielly gave a shove to Point, who lost his balance and slammed hard into the end boards.
From there, Kucherov jumped in and threw Rielly to the ice as everyone came together and the whistle blew with Point down and injured. Responding to what most thought may be a major penalty at the time, Stamkos grabbed a hold of Auston Matthews and began throwing punches while Raddysh landed a big uppercut on Rielly that sent the Leafs defenseman to the locker room with a bloody jersey.
"You see one of the best players in the world go headfirst into the boards, there's got to be a response," Stamkos said. "I'd expect the same thing from their group if Mitch Marner or Matthews was in that same position."
When it was all said and done, it was Toronto that ended up with the man advantage and no boarding call was assessed to Rielly. Cooper said he received no explanation from the officials.

"At that point, they weren't calling one, so I'm not going to sit here and change his mind," Cooper said. "It was a no-call, and we have to live with it."
Point went back to the locker room but was able to return after the very high speed collision that could have resulted in a serious injury.
As the Bolts looked to close out the game, Toronto pulled Samsonov and scored with one minute remaining in regulation with O'Reilly banging home a rebound in front of Vasilevskiy.
Then, with a minute left in overtime, a Rielly shot from the point found its way through traffic and into the back of the net to put the Lightning down 2-1 in the series. Tampa Bay finished the game with a 39-28 shot advantage after carrying play for most of the evening, particularly after the first period.
"I really liked our game," Cooper said. "Honestly, it's two really good hockey teams out there. We had ample chances to score some goals and the puck didn't go in for us as many times as we needed it to.
"I leave that game - unfortunate that we lost the game, but I loved our guts. In a three-game series, the adversity that's hit them in three games - we've gotten one of them. We've taken another one to overtime.
"It's a gutty group and I'd never bet against the gutty group that's in there. It's impressive to watch them. It was impressive to watch them in the locker room afterwards and the confidence they exude."
There were certainly some feelings of anger and frustration in the Tampa Bay dressing room, but also a bit of quiet confidence from a team that should've walked away with a win.
Unfortunately for them, the results are what matter most this time of year, but the execution was there for the Lightning on Saturday.
"It was probably the best game we've played in the series," Stamkos said. "If we continue to play like that, I like our chances.

"I think we did deserve to win, but give them credit. They stuck with it. That's what really good hockey teams do.
"That's a really good team over there, but we anticipate a long series. If we play like this, especially with that emotion and that energy, I like our chances moving forward."
In yet another game where officiating stuck out as a major part of the contest, the Bolts probably should have walked away with the victory and the 2-1 lead in the series, if not for the call that disallowed the Point goal in the second period.
But Tampa Bay still had the lead going into the third and just barely failed to close it out. With that being said, Stamkos is right. If the Lightning can play that same way moving forward, there's a strong chance they'll advance to the Second Round. But they'll have to win three of the next four contests if they want to get there.
"Give Toronto credit," Cooper said. "They stuck with it. They get one at the end and one goes in for them in overtime. But I liked a lot of what we brought.
"A bounce back game from Game 2, no question. As I've said before, it sucks losing these games, but we're still in this series."