Juraj Slafkovsky netted his hat-trick game-winner 1:22 into the postseason’s first overtime, and the visiting Montreal Canadiens stunned the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-3 on Sunday in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference first-round series.
After the Lightning’s Jake Guentzel committed a high-sticking penalty with 21 second left in regulation, Montreal cashed in as Slafkovsky took a pass from Lane Hutson and zipped the winner from the left circle in the carry-over into overtime in Tampa, Fla.
It gave the 30-goal scorer his third power-play marker of the night and wrested home-ice advantage away from Tampa Bay in the best-of-seven series.
Josh Anderson scored, and Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki notched two assists apiece. Rookie goaltender Jakub Dobes made 20 saves.
Montreal went 3-for-5 on the power play.
The Lightning’s Brandon Hagel scored on the man advantage and at even strength, and Darren Raddysh potted one on the power play. Guentzel posted three assists, and Nikita Kucherov had two. Goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 15 shots.
Montreal defenseman Alexandre Carrier won a puck battle from his knees behind the home side’s net in the first period, and Anderson then took Carrier’s feed and roofed the series’ first marker at 13:24 on the club’s third shot.
Just 12 seconds after Anderson’s potential second tally was waved off for a high stick, Lightning defenseman Charle-Edouard D’Astous was sandwiched between hard checks by Jake Evans and Anderson. D’Astous eventually got to his feet, was helped off but did not return, while Anderson was assessed a minor penalty.
Tampa Bay’s offense took off from there.
Raddysh, a 22-goal scorer, rocketed a power-play tally at 12:15, and Hagel found a puck to left of the cage and lifted one in 29 seconds for the Lightning’s first lead in the series.
During a late power play after Tampa Bay’s Conor Geekie went off for high sticking, the Habs moved the puck quickly. Slafkovsky eventually blistered a tying one-timer from the right circle with 24 seconds left in the second period.
On another power play in the third, Montreal took its second lead on more nifty passing when Slafkovsky buried his second goal from the low slot at 5:56 off a feed from Caufield to make it 3-2.
But Hagel matched it with a man-advantage tap-in two minutes later on Guentzel’s third assist.
