Lightning's defensive game falters as they drop Game 3 to Canadiens

MONTREAL - If the Lightning's season goes up in smoke with another first-round playoff exit following a 106-point regular season, they might look back on Friday as the night their first-round series against the Canadiens got away from them.

The script was set for a team that was embracing its role as the villain. The opportunity to send a raucous Bell Centre crowd home muttering was there in Game 3. On a night on which it was far from the best team on the ice, it still had the chance to take control of the best-of-seven series and reclaim home ice.

But after a 3-2 overtime loss, all of the Lightning's warts emerged at the worst moment. They weren't rattled by the best playoff atmosphere in hockey. They were their own worst enemy. And now they trail the series 2-1.

"We're definitely still in the series, but the next one's so important," Lightning center Brayden Point said. "We know we can be better. We've got to learn from our mistakes here (Friday), and we've got to show better next game."

Goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy was a last line of defense used far too often as the Lightning defense got looser as the game went on. He had to defend three breakaways and stopped all of them.

But he couldn't stop Montreal defenseman Lane Hutson's game winner 2:09 into overtime, a seeing-eye slap shot from above the right circle that went through four white jerseys before sailing over Vasilevskiy's blocker and into the back of the net, setting forth a celebration among the 21,000 inside the arena and the thousands that packed the streets outside it.

The Lightning have two days to right the ship. They've expended a lot to get to this point and have little to show for it. Now, they face an uphill climb to survive the Canadiens.

"We've got to control what we can here, and that's our effort and our execution," Lightning defenseman Ryan McDonagh said. "And as poorly as I think everybody's going to feel (Friday) in how we played when we break this down, we still had a chance there. With overtime, anything can happen.

"But we've really got to dig deep here and understand what's at stake. We've worked too hard all season to set ourselves up here in the playoffs, and it's on us to control what we can to give ourselves a better percentage of trying to win a game."

Hurt by the role players

The Lightning are down in the series despite holding one of the league's top offensive lines - Cole Caufield, Nick Suzuki and Juraj Slafkovsky - without a 5-on-5 goal through three games. Friday, with Montreal having the final chance to get favorable matchups playing at home, Tampa Bay still had success neutralizing the Suzuki line, which had just four shots on goal.

The trio that gave the Lightning trouble was the fourth line of Zachary Bolduc, Kirby Dach and Alexandre Texier, each of which was plus-3. Texier scored Montreal's first goal, but Dach's tying goal with 7:17 left in the second period seemed to change momentum.

After Vasilevskiy made an initial save on Dach, the Lightning couldn't get the puck out of their zone and Dach flung the puck on net from the top of the right circle with a shot that hit off McDonagh's left shin pad and redirected past Vasilevskiy on the blocker side.

"We've held some pretty darn good players to limited chances in this series," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. "We're just not capitalizing the way we think we can do some things. Our execution has to be (better), we have to elevate now. And it feels like we've had bits and pieces of this series where we've been pretty darn good, and on the other side of it it's been a struggle at times."

Penalty issues again

Special teams continue to play a huge role in this series, and while the Lightning received a much-needed goal from Point, who had just two over his previous 21 games (including the playoffs), they couldn't do anything else with 9:36 of power-play time.

They went through a six-minute stretch late in the second period and into the third where they were forced to kill off three straight penalties. And while they were able to do so (and went 4-for-4 for the game), the penalty problems are having a negative effect through the series.

"That's tough," said Lightning forward Jake Guentzel,. "It's been all serious, myself included. We've got to make sure we clean that up. That's one of the best power plays in the league for a reason, and they have a lot of skill. So, it takes guys out of the game, and we've got to make sure that we're, you know, playing 5-on-5."

Defensive breakdowns prevalent

The Canadiens are one of the fastest teams in the league, so they can make you pay if you get caught flat-footed. The Lightning didn't give much in the first two games, but Friday they yielded huge scoring chances in front and allowed three breakaways that Vasilevskiy stopped.

"I think we weren't sharp as we needed to be, for sure, and we talked about it, giving up breakaways and odd-mans," McDonagh said. "We haven't done a lot of that this series, but (Friday) certainly got away from us defensively, and hats off to Vasy. Gave us a chance there in overtime. But ultimately, I think the right team won (Friday), and that's on us."

Vasilevskiy shut down Ivan Demidov on a breakaway six minutes into the second period, then thwarted Cole Caufield early in the third after Yanni Gourde turned the puck over at the Montreal blue line.

Vasilevskiy's stop on Josh Anderson later in the third was the most impressive. Anderson had just exited the penalty box and was sprung at the blue line. He pulled the puck back, trying to tuck it inside the right post, but Vasilevskiy stuck out his left pad to deny the attempt.

Canadiens 2, Lightning 1

EASTERN CONFERENCE: FIRST ROUND

Gm 1: Canadiens 4, Lightning 3 (OT)

Gm 2: Lightning 3, Canadiens 2 (OT)

Friday: Canadiens 3, Lightning 2 (OT)

Sunday: at Montreal, 7, ESPN

Wednesday: at Tampa, TBD

Friday: at Montreal, TBD*

May 3: at Tampa, TBD*

TV/radio: All games also on

The Spot-Ch. 66; 102.5-FM

* If necessary

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This story was originally published April 25, 2026 at 1:17 AM.