Alexandre Texier and Brayden Point traded goals as the Montreal Canadiens and Tampa Bay Lightning head into the first intermission tied 1-1 in Game 3 of their first-round series.
The teams split the first two games in Tampa Bay, both in overtime.
Texier scored the game’s first goal at 4:53 of the period for his first of the playoffs, taking a pass from Zachary Bolduc and wristing it over the shoulder of Andrei Vasilevskiy to earn the 1-0 lead.
Point found the equalizer on the power play just under three minutes later, as he wired a one-timer past Jakub Dobes for his first of the postseason to tie the game.
After scoring the opening goal, the Canadiens took back-to-back tripping penalties but were able to kill off the second, keeping the game even midway through the first.
The Canadiens got their own chance on the power play but were unable to find the go-ahead goal with the man advantage.
Habs forward Kirby Dach almost restored the one-goal lead very late in the period, but his shot ricocheted off the post.
The opening frame got physical quickly, with both teams throwing several big checks, getting the raucous Bell Centre crowd into the game early.
