The Tampa Bay Lightning are one defeat away from their fourth straight opening-round elimination from the Stanley Cup Playoffs after a 3-2 loss to the Montreal Canadiens in Game 5 of their Eastern Conference First Round series at Benchmark International Arena on Wednesday night.
Alexandre Texier’s goal 1:06 into the third period broke a 2-2 tie and the Canadiens’ defense and goaltender Jakub Dobes combined to do the rest. The defense held the Lightning without a shot on goal for more than 10 minutes after Texier’s goal put Montreal ahead. Dobes made eight of his 38 saves in the final two minutes after the Lightning pulled goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy for an extra attacker.
The Canadiens can close out the best-of-7 series by winning Game 6 before what’s sure to be a raucous full house at Bell Centre on Friday.
Kucherov can't convert on a HUGE chance and Texier gives the Habs the lead on the other end 😳(🎥: @espn) pic.twitter.com/DS3XhCVzlt
Montreal never trailed, getting an early goal from Brendan Gallagher and a goal by Kirby Dach in the second period just 11 seconds after the Lightning tied the game on a goal by Dominic James.
Jake Guentzel tied the game 2-2 late in the second period. The Lightning had an excellent chance early in the third before Texier fired a shot from the left circle that hit Vasilevskiy’s glove and deflected into the net.
Tampa Bay is trying to avoid being eliminated from the playoffs in the opening round for the fourth consecutive year. The Bolts haven’t won a series since defeating the New York Rangers in six games to win the 2022 Eastern Conference Final. They lost to the Colorado Avalanche in the Stanley Cup Final and haven’t gotten past the first round since then.
The Canadiens had plenty of jump from the opening face-off, pushing the play and nearly scoring 26 seconds in — Vasilevskiy came up big by stopping rookie Ivan Demidov from close range.
But the Canadiens kept pushing and got on the board at the 3-minute mark. Gallagher, who replaced Oliver Kapanen in the lineup, got to the front of the net and popped in the carom of Alex Newhook’s shot to give Montreal a quick 1-0 lead.
Montreal had a big chance to add to its lead when Lightning defenseman Ryan McDonagh was assessed a double minor at 7:30 for high-sticking Nick Suzuki. But the Canadiens managed just one shot during the four-minute power play, and the kill appeared to give the Lightning a jolt of energy.
Oliver Bjorkstrand beat Dobes at 12:39, but his backhander from the left circle hit the post and the crossbar but bounced away. Tampa Bay also had a couple of good chances during its first power play after Jake Evans went off for delay of game at 13:06. The period ended with the Canadiens leading 1-0, though the Lightning had an 8-6 edge in shots on goal.
Tampa Bay came up empty on two power plays early in the second period; Vasilevskiy kept the deficit at one on the first advantage when he stopped Evans on a breakaway and denied him on the rebound.
DOMINIC JAMES TIES IT UP WITH HIS FIRST CAREER PLAYOFF GOAL ⚡️ pic.twitter.com/4HS4UQfAMg
— Spittin' Chiclets (@spittinchiclets) April 30, 2026
The Bolts then tied the game at 6:49 on James’ first career playoff goal. The speedy rookie came down the right side on a 2-on-1 with McDonagh, opted to shoot and beat Dobes high to the short side from near the right face-off dot.
But the Canadiens needed just 11 seconds to regain the lead. Dach bulled his way from the left wall to the front of the net, had the puck tipped away from Vasilevskiy but kicked it back onto his stick and buried it into the open left side to make it 2-1.
Montreal controlled the pace of play for the next 10 minutes, keeping the Lightning in their own zone for most of that time. However, the Bolts capitalized on another 2-on-1 to tie the score at 17:23. Defenseman Mike Matheson came down into the right circle, but his shot missed the net and he got caught. Guentzel picked up the puck, raced down the right side and beat Dobes from almost the same spot that James scored from, tying the score 2-2.
JAKE GUENTZEL HAS TIED GAME 5! #StanleyCup 📺: @espn 2, @Sportsnet, & @TVASports pic.twitter.com/DSChckUayD
Darren Raddysh rang the post behind Dobes in the first minute of the third period; Nikita Kucherov picked up the rebound and had an open net but whiffed.
On the return rush, Texier took a long pass and fired from inside the left circle. It’s a shot Vasilevskiy should have stopped but didn’t; the puck hit the inside of the wrist area of the glove and floated into the net.