Apr 22, 2026, 01:03 AM ET<\/p>\n
TAMPA, Fla. — J.J. Moser<\/a> scored 12:48 into overtime to give the Tampa Bay Lightning<\/a> a 3-2 victory<\/a> over the Montreal Canadiens<\/a> on Tuesday night, tying the first-round playoff series at 1-1.<\/p>\n The series shifts to Montreal for two games, with Game 3 set for Friday night. Game 4 is Sunday.<\/p>\n Brandon Hagel<\/a> had a “Gordie Howe hat trick” with a goal, assist and a fight, and teammate Nikita Kucherov<\/a> also scored for Tampa Bay. Andrei Vasilevskiy<\/a> stopped 25 shots.<\/p>\n The Lightning had lost four consecutive home playoff games and 10 of the past 11, dating to Game 4 against Colorado in the 2022 Stanley Cup Final and 11 of the previous 12 playoff games that went to overtime.<\/p>\n Lane Hutson<\/a> and Josh Anderson<\/a> scored for the Canadiens. Jakub Dobes<\/a> finished with 31 saves.<\/p>\n Moser scored his first career playoff goal following an icing call, taking the puck off a faceoff win by Anthony Cirelli<\/a>, skating around a stick check attempt by Kirby Dach<\/a> and beating Dobes with a wrist shot from inside the left faceoff circle.<\/p>\n “We worked on faceoff plays and the puck kind of squirts out,” Moser said. “I tried to keep it in, skate with it and all of a sudden it opens up. I took it down and take a shot.”<\/p>\n Editor’s Picks<\/p>\n 2 Related<\/p>\n Kucherov forced overtime at 12:33 of the third period, collecting a deflected puck off the stick of Hagel and scoring on a wrap-around. The goal was the first playoff goal for Kucherov since April 19, 2023, a span of 17 postseason games.<\/p>\n “(Hagel) had a puck, shot the puck on the net,” Kucherov said. “I picked it up behind the net and put it in.”<\/p>\n