Hutson Walks Off Lightning in OT — Canadiens Take 2-1 Series Lead

Lane Hutson scored at 2:09 of overtime, his first slap shot of the season ripping through traffic past Andrei Vasilevskiy, and the Montreal Canadiens beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-2 at Bell Centre on Friday night to take a 2-1 lead in the Eastern Conference First Round.

Montreal Canadiens 3, Tampa Bay Lightning 2 (OT) — periods 1-1, 1-1, 0-0, OT 1-0

Goals: 4:53 Texier (Dach, Bolduc), 32:43 Dach (unassisted), 62:09 Hutson (Texier) — 7:42 Point (Guentzel, PP), 24:47 Hagel (unassisted).

Goalies: Dobes (15 saves) — Vasilevskiy (26 saves).

Series: Montreal lead 2-1.

Texier strikes first, Point answers on the power play

Texier opened the scoring 4:53 into the first period, finishing a play started by Kirby Dach and Zachary Bolduc to give the Canadiens an early lead in front of a roaring Bell Centre crowd. The Lightning answered just under three minutes later when Brayden Point converted on the power play, set up by Jake Guentzel.

Hagel pushes Tampa ahead, Dach equalizes

Brandon Hagel beat Jakub Dobes unassisted at 4:47 of the second period to put Tampa Bay ahead 2-1, but the lead lasted barely eight minutes. At 12:43, Dach turned back to the net along the right boards and ripped a wrist shot that deflected off Ryan McDonagh's leg, slipped between Vasilevskiy's pads, and tied the game 2-2 — the equalizer that made overtime possible.

Hutson: "Might have been my first slap shot all year"

For the third straight game, the series went to overtime — and for the second straight time, Montreal won it. Hutson took a feed from Texier out of the right corner and unleashed a slap shot from above the right face-off circle that found its way through bodies and past Vasilevskiy at 2:09. "That honestly might have been my first slap shot all year," Hutson said afterward. "I saw some space, lots of bodies, and just tried to shoot it as hard as I could."

What it means

Montreal lead the best-of-seven series 2-1 with Game 4 returning to the Bell Centre on Sunday. Dobes finished with 15 saves on 17 shots; Vasilevskiy stopped 26 of 29. Tampa Bay's veteran core — Point, Hagel, Guentzel, Vasilevskiy — has been outplayed in the high-leverage moments two games running, and another loss would have the back-to-back contender staring at a 1-3 hole.