Lightning beat Canadiens on questionable goal
Blackhawks hold off Wild ‘Both can function in space’
MONTREAL, May 2, (Agencies): Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov scored a contentious goal at 2:06 of the second overtime to give the Lightning a 2-1 victory at Montreal on Friday in the opening game of their NHL Eastern Conference semifinal series.
It was also close in the opener of the Western Conference semifinal between Chicago and Minnesota, with the Blackhawks snatching victory after having given up a three-goal lead.
Kucherov scored the winning goal on a play that replays clearly showed was offside.
“It’s really frustrating, losing a game on an offside,” Montreal coach Michel Therrien said. “Those things are not supposed to happen.
“It’s not like a penalty. It’s not a judgment call. It’s black or white. It was clearly offside and we ended up losing the game.”
Game 2 of the best-of-seven series is Sunday in Montreal.
The Lightning were outshot 44-35 and got some breaks when Montreal’s David Desharnais and Max Pacioretty both hit the post early to the relief of Tampa Bay goaltender Ben Bishop, who was keeping the result in perspective.
Tyler Johnson scored his NHL-leading seventh of the playoffs for Tampa Bay in and could become the highest-paid coach in NHL history. His contract expires on June 30.
Babcock said Friday that he and general manager Ken Holland will talk about his contract within the next 10 days.
Winnipeg Jets defenseman Jacob Trouba has undergone successful surgery to repair a broken bone in his hand.
Trouba is expected to make a full recovery and be ready for training camp in September.
The Chicago Blackhawks agreed to terms with forward Artemi Panarin on a two-year contract.
Panarin, 23, shared fourth in the Kontinental Hockey League with a teamhigh 62 points and ranked fifth with 26 goals in 54 regular-season games with Saint Petersburg.
The 5-foot-11, 170-pound Panarin has 183 points (76 goals, 107 assists) in 263 regular-season KHL games.