Alexandre Texier broke a tie 1:06 into the third period and the Montreal Canadiens beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-2 on Wednesday night to take a 3-2 lead in the first-round series.
Rookie Jakub Dobes stopped 38 shots to help Montreal move within a victory of advancing for the first time since losing to the Lightning in the Stanley Cup Finals in 2021.
Brendan Gallagher got his first goal in his first game this series, and Kirby Dach also scored for the Canadiens.
Game 6 is Friday at 7 p.m. in Montreal, where the teams split Games 3 and 4.
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All five games have been decided by one goal, including overtime in the first three.
Dominic James scored his first career playoff goal and Jake Guentzel also connected for the Lightning - both on two-on-one breakaways.
The Bolts are one loss from being eliminated in the first round for the fourth straight season.
Tampa Bay has lost 10 of its last 12 home games in the postseason despite 460 consecutive sellouts at Benchmark International Arena, which would host Game 7 - if there is one.
Texier took a long pass from Lane Hutson, skated into the left circle and ripped a shot that bounced off Andrei Vasilevskiy’s glove and into the net for a 3-2 lead early in the third.
The Canadiens jumped ahead three minutes into the game when Gallagher wristed in a rebound after Vasilevskiy kicked away Alex Newhook’s backhander. Gallagher was a healthy scratch the first four games, and the 14-year veteran spent time giving the young players advice.
Eleven seconds after James blasted a slap shot past Dobes, the Canadiens regained the lead. Dach skated down the left side, went around Tampa Bay's Gage Goncalves, lost the puck, kicked it from his skate to his stick in front of the net and put it past Vasilevskiy.
Dach deactivated his Instagram account after receiving online criticism because his defensive lapse led to the winning goal in overtime in Game 2. He had a goal and an assist in Montreal’s 3-2 overtime win the next game.
Guentzel fired a slap shot between Dobes’ legs on another breakaway to tie it at 2 late in the second. Guentzel has the best playoff goal-scoring ratio among American-born players in NHL history with 43 goals in 79 games.
The Lightning killed off a four-minute disadvantage after Ryan McDonagh’s double minor for high-sticking in the first period. The Canadiens managed just one shot on net during the power play.
Montreal had better scoring chances on two of Tampa Bay’s power plays in the second period. Vasilevskiy stopped Jake Evans on a short-handed breakaway on one of them.
Vasilevskiy stopped 21 shots for Tampa Bay.
Watch party: The Lightning will host a Game 6 watch party beginning at 6 p.m. Friday at Water Works Park, 1701 N. Highland Ave., Tampa. The game will be shown on a big screen, and there will be appearances by ThunderBug and Lightning personalities, giveaways and concession specials.
SERIES SCHEDULE (best of seven)
Game 1 – Canadiens 4, Lightning 3 (overtime)
Game 2 – Lightning 3, Canadiens 2 (overtime)
Game 3 – Canadiens 3, Lightning 2 (overtime)
Game 4 – Lightning 3, Canadiens 2
Game 5 – Canadiens 3, Lightning 2; Montreal leads series, 3-2
Game 6 – at Montreal on Friday, 7 p.m. (ESPN2, WXPX-The Spot)
Game 7 (if necessary) – at Tampa on Sunday, Time TBD
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