Lightning even series with wild, physical Game 2 victory

TAMPA -- If the rest of the Eastern Conference First Round series between the Tampa Bay Lightning and Montreal Canadiens is like Game 2 on Tuesday, fans in each city are in for a treat.

And cardiologists in each city are in for a lot of business.

In a game that featured everything -- fights, hits, skirmishes after almost every whistle, penalty boxes filled to the brim, clutch goals, more ups and downs than a roller coaster, and overtime for the second straight game -- the Lightning won 3-2 on J.J. Moser’s goal at 12:48 of overtime to even the best-of-7 series 1-1. 

“This is a fun series right now,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. “Two games have gone to overtime and you can tell it’s a couple of teams that care, and this one’s far from over.”

After two days for the players to switch cities and fans to try to relax, the series resumes with Game 3 on Friday at what should be an off-the-hook Bell Centre in Montreal (7 p.m. ET; CBC, TVAS, SN, TNT, truTV, HBO MAX, The Spot). 

How crazy, physical and heart-stopping was Game 2? 

At one point in the first period there were four Lightning players in the penalty box. When they were shown on the videoboards, a graphic was put over them that said, “Standing Room Only -- No Vacancy.”

While Lightning forward Corey Perry was yelling at the Canadiens players in the opposite penalty box, his teammate Brandon Hagel made a mock crying gesture toward the Montreal penalty box, then grabbed a towel in the box and pretended to wipe tears away.

“We were just saying hi,” Perry joked. 

A few seconds later, when the P.A. announcer tried to let the crowd know what the penalties were after a wild scrum that had multiple players in each box, he said, “Corey Perry, a double minor for roughing. Everyone else, two minutes each.” 

“We all knew it was going to be like that,” Canadiens defenseman Kaiden Guhle said. “They lost (Game 1), so we knew they were going to try to change something. We expected it.”

Things hit a fever pitch at 5:14 of the second period, when Hagel and Canadiens power forward Juraj Slafkovsky dropped the gloves, and then Hagel, who opened the scoring at 8:40 of the first period, dropped Slafkovsky with a fierce right hand.

“Whatever it takes to win,” said Hagel, who also had a goal and an assist to complete the Gordie Howe Hat Trick. “Sometimes it’s going to take fighting, sometimes it’s obviously going to take scoring.

“Everyone knows what we are when we play with emotion, not just myself. Guys are willing to try to bring everyone into the fight, and that is what I was trying to do a little bit.”

In all, the teams combined for 52 penalty minutes, 77 hits and endless skirmishes. 

“I thought we were great. I mean, I don’t think they can overwhelm us physically,” Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki said. “Everyone stuck together. At one point, there were five guys in the box. It’s nice to see the guys fight and scratching for everything out there.” 

It’s all part of playoff hockey, Cooper said. 

“It’s two proud teams. You have to do what you have to do to advance,” Cooper said. “And I always say, the enemy has a vote, and they’re trying to take what you want. It’s our job, we’re just going to keep pushing forward, and like I said, regardless of how we’re going to do it, we’re going to do it.”

They did it by reversing some disturbing and shocking trends. 

Forward Nikita Kucherov, who was second in the NHL this season with 130 points (44 goals, 86 assists), had gone 16 straight playoff games without a goal since Tampa Bay’s first game of the 2023 postseason. 

But when the Lightning needed him most, he tied the game 2-2 with 7:27 left in regulation, collecting the puck behind the net following a shot from Hagel and wrapping the puck in at the right post before Canadiens goalie Jakub Dobes could get back into position. 

“‘Hages’ had the puck, shot the puck at the net, and I picked it up behind the net and put it in,” Kucherov said. 

Before the game could get to overtime, the Lightning took another penalty, one similar to Game 1, which Cooper labeled as the result of “stupidity.” 

This time it was forward Scott Sabourin, who didn’t play in Game 1, drilling Canadiens forward Josh Anderson from behind and getting called for interference with 2:15 left. 

“He knows his role, he’s exceptional on the bench, and for 58 minutes he held it together,” Cooper joked. 

But the Lightning, who gave up three power-play goals in the 4-3 loss in Game 1, including the overtime winner, were able to kill the penalty and get the game to extra time. 

“Well, at least we took that penalty with more than two minutes left,” Cooper said. “All joking aside, it was two minutes left in a tie game and we had given up four power-play goals. But a momentum builder, no question, to kill that off and come back in overtime.”

And that was another oddity with the Lightning. The Game 1 loss on Sunday was their seventh straight in overtime in the playoffs. They had also been 2-10 in their past 12 home playoff games. 

“The last four or five (overtime games) we’ve had in the building haven’t gone our way, and it’s crazy,” Cooper said. “We went through a stretch where we couldn’t lose one, and then we’ve gone through a stretch where we couldn’t win in overtime, and I said to the guys, ‘We have to change that narrative.’”

They did just that, with Moser beating Dobes with a wrist shot, sending the series to Montreal tied. The defenseman had just seven goals in 79 games in the regular season before scoring the biggest goal for the Lightning this season to date. 

“That’s what the playoffs are all about,” Perry said. “There’s somebody new every single night making a name for themselves.” 

And now it’s on to Montreal, where the animosity and intensity will hit new heights in the hockey-crazed city. 

“It’s going to be like this the entire series,” Hagel said. 

Buckle up.