Canadiens 2, Lightning 1
MONTREAL -- Right winger Pierre-Alexandre Parenteau scored late in the third period to give the Montreal Canadiens a 2-1 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning on
Saturday night at the Bell Centre.
The Lightning lead 3-2 in the best-of-seven, second-round series.
Right winger Devante Smith-Pelly also scored for the Canadiens. Center Steven Stamkos had Tampa Bay's goal.
Goaltender Carey Price made 23 saves for the Canadiens. Ben Bishop stopped 27 shots for the Lightning.
Smith-Pelly put the Canadiens on the board at 9:01 of the first period.
A Lightning clearing attempt was intercepted by defenseman Jeff Petry in the neutral
zone. He sent the puck over to center Torrey Mitchell, who quickly dished off to Smith-Pelly to his left at the Tampa blue line. Smith-Pelly skated in and fired a wrist shot from the bottom of the left circle that beat Bishop.
The shot hit the back of the back of the net hard and popped out quickly, forcing a quick review to confirm the goal.
Tampa Bay struggled to muster any attack in the second period, getting its first shot on goal of the period near the midpoint.
The Lightning had one of its best chances to tie the score courtesy of left winger Brenden Morrow. With traffic in front of the net and Canadiens center Tomas Plekanec's back to him, Morrow tossed a shot on goal to Price's right. The Montreal netminder spotted the winger and got his right pad out quickly to deny the veteran.
Stamkos tied the score with his second goal of the playoffs at 9:27 of the third period. With Tampa pressuring, the Canadiens struggled to clear their zone. Price made several saves, including getting a piece of center Valtteri Filppula's chance in close with his glove as the goaltender fell forward.
Price made a save on defenseman Anton Stralman's point shot, but Stamkos was there for the loose puck, poking it into an open net to Price's left.
Parenteau restored Montreal's lead at 15:53. Stamkos tried to clear his end after some sustained pressure by the Canadiens. He was denied by defenseman P.K. Subban, who skated up the right boards before sending a perfect feed to Parenteau in the slot for the winger's first goal of the 2015 postseason.
NOTES: Recovered from an upper body injury, Canadiens D Nathan Beaulieu returned to the lineup after missing the first four games because of an upper body injury. ... D Greg Pateryn was scratched joining regular healthy scratches C Manny Malhotra, D Sergei Gonchar and D Mike Weaver. ... After sitting as a scratch for Game 4, Tampa Bay LW Brenden Morrow drew back into the lineup, replacing LW Jonathan Drouin. ... The Lightning also scratched D Mark Barberio and C Vladislav Namestnikov. D Nikita Nesterov suited up for the first time in the series. ... Game 5 marked Montreal coach Michel Therrien's 70th career playoff game behind an NHL bench, moving him into sole possession of 38th place on the all-time list.