CHICAGO — Cedric Paquette scored the tiebreaking goal on an exceptional pass from Victor Hedman with 3:11 to play, and the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Chicago Blackhawks 3-2 Monday night to take a 2-1 lead in the Stanley Cup Final.
Ondrej Palat tied it for the Lightning right after Brandon Saad put the Blackhawks ahead early in the third period, and the series appeared headed to its first overtime game.
Hedman, the Lightning’s gifted Swedish defenseman, then took charge on an odd-man rush by drawing the defense and feeding a pass to Paquette. The low-scoring forward slammed the puck between defenseman Kyle Cumiskey’s legs and into a wide-open net for his second goal of the Final.
Ryan Callahan also scored and Ben Bishop made 36 saves even though he appeared to be moving shakily.
Brad Richards scored and Corey Crawford stopped 29 shots for the Blackhawks, who lost at home for just the second time in the playoffs.
Game 4 is Wednesday night in Chicago.
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