For the Tampa Bay Lightning, this has been a disatrous postseason. They have dropped all three of their games so far and a loss tonight would mean a sweep for the Canadiens and advancement in the playoffs. The Lightning and Canadiens are set to drop the puck at 7:00PM. The Lightning suffered a disappointing loss on Sunday night. Tampa initially tied the game at one late in the second and not too long after Ryan Callahan found the back of the net, but the goal was waved off as the Referee called "Goaltender Interference".

This author feels the goal was legal. When asked about it, Lightning head coach Jon Cooper said, "I was pissed then and I'm pissed now," but he pointed out that there's nothing he can do and said the outcome may not have been changed if the referees had called NHL headquarters in Toronto to review the play. Either way, the Lightning couldn't recover from the goal and let in a goal only a few moments later. The game would end with Montreal taking it by a final score of 3-2.

Only three teams have ever come back from a 3-0 gap and won that series, the most recent being the 2010 Flyers against the Boston Bruins. Some of Tampa's own players have been in a similar situation when they played with the Lightning's AHL affiliate, the Syracuse Crunch, in their playoff finals last year. The Crunch were down 3-1 but came back and won the next two games. However they couldn't win the series. The Lightning will hope for that kind of success tonight. Anders Lindback will start in net tonight for the Lightning while gold-winning Oylmpian Carey Price will be in net for Montreal.

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About the author
Brendan Hagen
Lightning writer since March 2014. Born in St. Pete and I'm just waiting for a chance to head back.