Canadiens 6, Lightning 2
TAMPA, Fla. -- Down 3-0 and facing elimination, the Montreal Canadiens bounced back to stay alive in the Eastern Conference semifinals, dominating the Tampa Bay Lightning in a 6-2 win at Amalie Arena that sends the series back to Montreal on Saturday.
Montreal led 5-0 midway through the second, keeping their postseason alive for another two days while beating the Lightning for the first time in nine meetings this season.
The Canadiens' six goals came from six different players, while goalie Carey Price was solid in net, stopping 22 of 24 shots.
The Lightning got a spark early on the power play in the third, cutting the lead to 5-2 just 17 seconds in on left winger Ondrej Palat's second goal of the playoffs on a perfect pass from red-hot center Tyler Johnson, his fourth assist.
Montreal answered with a goal for a 6-2 lead, as left-winger Brandon Prust scored on a rebound off a shot by center Lars Eller with 15:08 left in the game.
The six goals allowed matches the most by the Lightning in any playoff game since 2006.
The Canadiens jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period, chasing Lightning goalie Ben Bishop with a third goal early in the second.
Montreal opened its scoring just 2:44 into the game when defenseman Andrei Markov scored on a pass from defenseman P.K. Subban, beating Bishop on the Canadiens' first shot of the game.
Tampa Bay got a power play and a chance to tie the score, but left winger Max Pacioretty, who had an assist on the first goal, caught up to a loose puck for a breakaway and beat Bishop for a short-handed score and a 2-0 lead.
The Canadiens added a third goal with 14:52 left in the second period when center David Desharnais fired a long shot that popped out of the top of Bishop's glove and bounced into the net for a 3-0 lead.
The Lightning pulled Bishop for the first time in 11 playoff games, turning to rookie netminder Andrei Vasilevskiy for his NHL playoff debut. That didn't go well, as Montreal scored twice in his first five minutes -- 15 seconds apart -- on goals by defenseman Jeff Petry and right winger Brendan Gallagher for a 5-0 lead.
Tampa Bay got on the scoreboard with 7:34 left in the second period when right winger Nikita Kucherov produced his fourth goal of the playoffs on a pass from Palat, who got his fourth assist to cut the lead to 5-1.
In NHL history, only four teams have survived to advance from a 3-0 series deficit in 178 opportunities, but Montreal will return home with a chance to win a second game Saturday.
NOTES: The Lightning got C Cedric Paquette back on the ice after missing Game 3 with an undisclosed injury. Tampa Bay stayed with rookie LW Jonathan Drouin for a second straight game. Veteran LW Brenden Morrow a healthy scratch instead, along with D Mark Barberio and D Nikita Nesterov. ... Montreal G Carey Price didn't lose more than three games in a row at any point during the regular season. He lost three straight on two occasions. ... The Canadiens played back-to-back games on 16 occasions during the regular season and were better in the latter half of those, going 8-7-1 in the first games and 8-4-4 in the second.