Nikita Kucherov appeared to have the winner in the first overtime. No dice, the goal waved off when the referee determined goalie Carey Price had his right pad pushed into the net.
The disappointment of that moment was wiped away shortly after, as Kucherov ripped a wrist shot from the slot and by the left pad of Price to give the Tampa Bay Lightning a 2-1 double-overtime victory and a 1-0 series lead over the Montreal Canadiens on Friday.
This, too, was a controversial moment. About 12 seconds before Kucherov scored, the Lightning appeared to be offside as they entered the zone.
And so continues Tampa Bay’s winning ways over the Habs this season.
As one might expect with Ben Bishop and Price, Game 1 turned into a goalie duel, with both making terrific saves, including a Bishop glove stop with the pads stacked on Tomas Plekanec on a short-handed two-on-one rush that kept it a scoreless game in the second period.
Tyler Johnson gave Tampa Bay the lead early in the third period on a deflection for his seventh goal of the post-season, which leads all NHL players so far.
He was shaken up a few minutes later, after taking a cross check from Brendan Gallagher, but he did return.
Max Pacioretty sent the game to overtime. As good as Bishop was, making 43 saves for the eventual win, he whiffed on Pacioretty’s wrist shot late in the third period. It could’ve been a costly blunder.
However, Bishop made up for his one mistake, making 13 saves in overtime.