Josh Anderson’s overtime game-winning goal gave the host Montreal Canadiens a 3-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday as they avoided a sweep in the Stanley Cup Final.
Shortly after the Canadiens killed a four-minute penalty handed to captain Shea Weber with 61 seconds remaining in regulation, Anderson created a rush up ice by stealing the puck in his own zone and then pounced on a loose puck for his second goal of the game at 3:57 of overtime.
Alexander Romanov also scored for the Canadiens, who still trail the best-of-seven series 3-1. Goaltender Carey Price made 32 saves for Montreal, which is 4-0 when facing elimination in the playoffs.
Barclay Goodrow and Pat Maroon replied for the Lightning, who will look to clinch their second consecutive Stanley Cup title on home ice on Wednesday. Goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 18 shots.
Despite Tampa holding the momentum from the drop of the puck, Anderson opened the scoring with 4:21 remaining in the opening frame when he buried a chance from the slot for Montreal’s first lead of the series.
The Canadiens had the edge until Goodrow tied the game with 2:40 remaining in the second period. Taking advantage of a Montreal turnover, the Lightning worked the puck to Goodrow in the slot and he converted.
Romanov, playing his first game of the series, restored the Montreal lead at 8:48 of the third period when his long wrist shot found the target for his first goal in 54 games. He’s the youngest defenseman in Canadiens history to score a goal in the Stanley Cup Final.
However, Maroon erased the deficit exactly five minutes later when he finished the cross-ice pass from Mathieu Joseph on a two-on-one rush with 6:12 remaining in regulation.
The Canadiens replaced forward Jesperi Kotkaniemi and defensemen Jon Merrill and Erik Gustafsson with forward Jake Evans and defensemen Brett Kulak and Romanov. Meanwhile, injured Tampa forward Alex Killorn — who was hurt in the series opener — took the pregame skate but didn’t play.
–Field Level Media