The Lightning scored first for the first time in seven games, for the first time on the power play in 16 chances, and won for the sixth straight time following a loss this postseason, holding on for a 3-2 win at Rogers Place in Edmonton to even the best-of-7 series.
"Just scoring that first goal was big; I think that's all we're thinking about," said Tampa Bay forward Brayden Point, who scored it 11:23 into the first period. "We're staying positive with the power play and tonight we stuck with it. We were crisp on our passes and we had some guys, Nikita Kucherov] making some big plays. I don't know if it's a sense of relief; just happy to get a goal."
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Point's power-play goal was their first in 16 opportunities. Ondrej Palat gave the Lightning a 2-0 lead with another power-play goal 2:59 later.
"You can't score every time on the power play," Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said. "I say this all the time, you need to keep the momentum, the puck went in for us tonight. I thought they deserved it. A big reason why we won."
Kevin Shattenkirk made it 3-0 with an even-strength goal 44 seconds after that.
"I think the goal every game is to score first and score the most," the defenseman said. "But if teams score first, we don't get down on ourselves. It's the breaks of the game. … But it's not something that's weighing on our minds, at least coming into tonight's game. I feel like when we play our game and we put that pressure on teams, we can score early and we can score often."