With two spectacular goals, the Lightning goes from loser to winner in just 83 seconds. Vinny Lecavalier ties it late in regulation, and Brad Richards wins it early in the extra session.
By DAMIAN CRISTODERO
Published April 28, 2004
Photo gallery ALMOST A LOCK Series over? Not quite, but it's close.
In the history of the NHL playoffs, two teams have won a best-of-seven after losing the first three.
Against the Red Wings, the Maple Leafs lost the first three of the 1942 Stanley Cup final 3-2, 4-2 and 5-2. They won the next three 4-3, 9-3 and 3-0. Then Pete Langelle scored the go-ahead goal in a 3-1 victory in Game 7.
In the 1975 quarterfinals, the Islanders lost the first three to the Penguins 5-4, 3-1 and 6-4. New York then won 3-1, 4-2 and 4-1. In Game 7, Ed Westfall scored with just more than five minutes left and Glenn Resch made 30 saves for a 1-0 victory.
MONTREAL - The first thing Glen Richards did was call his wife, Delite. It wasn't so much a conversation as a series of screams and yelps.
Their son, Brad, had just scored his second goal 65 seconds into overtime to give the Lightning a 4-3 victory over the Canadiens on Tuesday night at the Bell Centre. And Glen, who had flown in that morning from Prince Edward Island just couldn't believe his luck. Or was that Brad's skill?
Lobster season begins Friday, and Glen and Delite will be manning the boats. That is why Delite could not make it. That is why that game could be the only playoff game this season Glen will see his son play.
"It was unbelievable," Glen said. "You couldn't have written it any better. Awesome. And how dramatic it was."
"Unbelievable," Brad said. "The best feeling in life. You wish you could do it over and over again. It was just so much fun. It was unbelievable."
Believe this. With the victory in Game 3 of the East semifinals, the Lightning's sixth consecutive of the playoffs, it is one win from a sweep in the best-of-seven series and a spot in the East final.
As if Richards' goal wasn't enough to set hearts pounding - he purposely banked his own rebound off the left skate of goalie Jose Theodore - consider the Lightning was 16.5 seconds from a 3-2 loss that would have cut Montreal's deficit to two games to one and changed the dynamic of the series.
But Vinny Lecavalier's spectacular goal, his fifth of the series, in which he redirected Dave Andreychuk's cross-slot pass through his legs (that's right, through his legs) and past Theodore, tied the score. And then there was Nikolai Khabibulin. The goalie allowed three goals, his playoff high. But none were his fault, and he was brilliant while making 28 saves.
"We got her done," wing Martin St. Louis said. "That's character. No matter how well or bad we played, we got her done."
In a pressure cooker.
The sellout crowd of 21,273 was louder than many Lightning players said they had ever heard, and it booed hometowners Lecavalier, St. Louis and Eric Perrin. The Canadiens also turned mean.
Twenty-one penalties for 58 minutes were called, including 17 for 34 minutes in the first. Face washes, cross-checks and good, hard checks were everywhere. Even the 5-foot-8, 176-pound Perrin got into a wrestling match with 6-4, 237-pound Mike Komisarek.
Cory Stillman's first goal of the playoffs, on a short-handed breakaway, and Richards' power-play tally gave the Lightning a 2-1 second-period lead. But Michael Ryder and Patrice Brisebois scored in the third to give Montreal a 3-2 edge with 3:47 left.
It was clear, Montreal, which outshot Tampa Bay 31-28, was forcing the action.
"When you score three goals in playoff hockey, it should be enough to win," said Canadiens wing Alex Kovalev, who scored in the second period. "All we can do now is relax. You can play like a kid."
And as determined as Tampa Bay did after Montreal took the lead.
"We stayed together," Lightning coach John Tortorella said. "I think the most important thing in playoff hockey is handling those type of situations. We still had time."
Lecavalier's goal had all kinds of subplots. A faceoff victory by Andreychuk, who lost a faceoff on Brisebois' goal. A great play by defenseman Pavel Kubina to keep the puck in the offensive zone and poke it to St. Louis.
And a remarkable flick of Lecavalier's stick.
"Fancy was the only option," he said.
Richards' winner wasn't fancy. It was calculated.
"The puck came right back to me so quickly, and you could see he didn't know where it was," he said of Theodore. "I just tried to bank it off him. I was happy it went in."
"A spectacular play," Glen Richards said. "My wife was screaming. It was unbelievable."
It was the least Brad could do. He likely won't be around for lobster season.
