Simon Gagne’s third-period goal completed the biggest playoff comeback in the history of the Tampa Bay Lightning, helping them beat the Boston Bruins 5-3 and tie the Eastern Conference Finals at two games apiece. The Lightning trailed 3-0 after one period, but scored the last five goals of the game.
Ryan Malone, who had a sensational all-around game, started the play that led to Gagne’s tally by intercepting Milan Lucic’s breakout pass in the neutral zone. Gagne circled back out of the zone to avoid being offside, then picked up the puck after it was knocked away from Malone near the edge of the right faceoff circle. He moved in and beat Bruins goalie Tim Thomas with a wrist shot through the five hole to give the Lightning a 4-3 lead.
Martin St. Louis scored an empty net goal with 36 seconds remaining to seal the game after he and Gagne played catch on a 2-on-1 to get Zdeno Chara out of the way.
Backup goalie Mike Smith picked up his first win of the playoffs. He relieved Dwayne Roloson after the first period and stopped all 21 shots he faced. Now as the series returns to Boston for Game 5, the question might be: Who starts in net?