Game 4 all tied up at two apiece in overtime
MONTREAL — Pat Maroon capped a 2-on-1 break with 6:12 remaining in regulation, and the defending champion Tampa Bay Lightning evened the score at 2 to force overtime against the Montreal Canadiens in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final on Monday night at press time.
The Lightning lead the series 3-0. They are attempting to become the NHL’s second team to win consecutive championships in the salary-cap era, which began in 2005. The Pittsburgh Penguins accomplished the feat with titles in 2016 and 2017.
If necessary, Game 5 is scheduled for Wednesday at Tampa Bay.
Tampa Bay will begin overtime with 2:59 remaining on a power play after Canadiens captain Shea Weber was issued a double-minor penalty for high-sticking after cutting Tampa Bay’s Ondrej Palat across the bridge of the nose.
Mathieu Joseph set up the tying goal by breaking up the right side and sending a pass through the middle, which Maroon fired into the left side. The goal came exactly 5 minutes after the Canadiens regained the lead on rookie
Alexander Romanov’s shot from the right point.
Romanov made his third playoff appearance after he was inserted into the lineup as part of interim coach Dominique Ducharme’s roster shakeup. Romanov and Brett Kulak took over as the third defensive pairing, replacing Erik Gustafsson and Jon Merrill.
Barclay Goodrow also scored for Tampa Bay, and Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 17 shots in regulation.
Montreal grabbed its first lead of the series when Josh Anderson opened the scoring with 4:21 left in the first period.
Carey Price stopped 28 shots in regulation.
Maroon 3-peat? Lightning forward can join elite Cup company
Patrick Maroon signed with the St. Louis Blues in the summer of 2018 to play in front of young son Anthony and try to bring the Stanley Cup back to his hometown.
After accomplishing that in 2019, he signed with the Tampa Bay Lightning and helped them hoist the Cup in 2020. One more Lightning win and Maroon becomes just the fourth player in NHL history and the first since 1964 to win the Stanley Cup three seasons in a row with two different teams.
“It’s a great achievement,” Maroon said Monday. “It would be an amazing accomplishment, that’s for sure . .... It’s exciting, though, to be talked about like that.”
Ed Litzenberger was the last to accomplish such a feat, with Chicago in 1961 and then Toronto from 1962-64. Even if he’d need another ring next year to match Litzenberger, Maroon would be in a class of his own to be the first player to go three-for-three in different uniforms since the expansion era began in 1967 and expanded the league beyond six teams.