You can never count out the Tampa Bay Lightning. Ever.
On Sunday, Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Final between the New York Rangers and Lightning was looking rough for the back-to-back Stanley Cup champions. Midway through the second period, the Rangers took a 2-0 lead on the Lightning, putting Tampa Bay in a precarious position with the team already down 2-0 in the series.
And yet, the Lightning stormed back, cutting the lead in half in the second then tying the game less than two minutes into the third. The big moment, however, came when Ondrej Palat scored to make it 3-2 Lightning with less than 42 seconds left in the game!
PALAT WITH LESS THAN A MINUTE LEFT 🤯🚨#StanleyCup | #GoBolts pic.twitter.com/UizkADX7aL
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) June 5, 2022
What a goal! Not only that, look at Nikita Kucherov’s brilliant assist on the game-winner to Palat.
Just a disgusting feed from Kucherov on Palat's game-winner pic.twitter.com/CXzgUZSmNW
— Pete Blackburn (@PeteBlackburn) June 5, 2022
That’s absolutely cold blooded. But, given that the Lightning are reigning Stanley Cup champions twice over, there was no way they were going down without a fight.