- Brendan Gallagher returned from a healthy scratch and scored 3:00 into Game 5, his first goal of the playoffs
- Alexandre Texier scored the go-ahead at 1:06 of the third on a stretch pass from Lane Hutson, lifting Montreal 3-2
- Read below for the video, the Dobes 38-save night, and how Game 6 sets up Friday in Montreal
Brendan Gallagher made it count.
The Canadiens winger sat for the first four games of the series as a healthy scratch. He drew back in for Game 5 and scored on his first shift, three minutes into the first period, to set the tone for a 3-2 Montreal win in Tampa that pushed the Lightning to the brink.
The Canadiens lead the series 3-2. Game 6 is Friday at Bell Centre.
“The group right now is really dialed in, playing some really solid hockey,” Gallagher said postgame, per NHL.com. “It’s fun to be a part of.”
Tampa hit back. Dominic James tied it 1-1 at 6:49 of the second with his first career playoff goal. Eleven seconds later, Kirby Dach lost the puck on a poke check from Andrei Vasilevskiy, regathered it, and beat the goaltender glove side to make it 2-1.
Jake Guentzel knotted things up again at 17:23 with a five-hole shot from the right circle, and the game went to the third period tied.
Texier broke it open early. Lane Hutson hit him with a stretch pass, Texier skated into the left circle, and his wrister deflected off Vasilevskiy’s glove and into the net at 1:06 of the third.
From there it was the Jakub Dobes show. The Habs goaltender finished with 38 saves, including 17 in the third period, and turned away another 10 shots after Tampa pulled Vasilevskiy for the extra attacker with 2:33 left.
“We played a more mature game,” Dobes said. “We experienced in the last game how to lose a lead, so I feel like today we know how it feels, we know what to do, and I’m really proud of our group.”
Habs head coach Martin St. Louis credited the buy-in across the lineup.
“It’s not an easy team to go that long 5-on-6 against, and I thought we managed it pretty well,” St. Louis said. “It wasn’t one thing I think. It was collectively we found a way to keep it out of our net.”
Tampa coach Jon Cooper offered a typical Cooper assessment of the result.
“We just lost a Game 5, so there’s lots going on in my head right now,” he said.
Montreal can finish the Lightning off in front of their home crowd Friday night and book a second-round date with whichever team comes out of the Caps-Devils series.
