In Toronto, the Tampa Bay Lightning outlasted the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday afternoon for a 3-2 Game 3 win and 2-1 series lead.
Andrei Vasilevskiy made 15 saves in the win.
Alex Killorn opened the scoring in the game to give the Bolts a 1-0 lead.
The difference in the game was the middle frame when the Lightning outshot the Blue Jackets, 16-4 and struck for two goals.
“I thought we were very good with the puck today,” Victor Hedman said. “We made plays when we had the opportunity. The second and third periods were the way we want to play. We made it hard on them. I think they had three shots in the third. Obviously very happy with the way we responded after that first period.”
Brayden Point and Hedman were the second period strikers for Tampa Bay.
“We were responsible with the puck,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. “I’m not saying we were perfect. We gave up a couple of odd-man rushes. But we had really good mojo going on the bench.”
Riley Nash scored for Columbus to get the teams even at 1-1.
“We can take positives from that game but we have to realize it’s only two (wins),” Point said. “We can’t get too high, we can’t get too low.”
Eric Robinson got Columbus within one goal early in the third period to make the final frame a tense affair.
“It’s going to be a tight series all the way through, so we’ve just got to move past this one and get ready for the next game,” Columbus’ Gustav Nyquist said.
[WATCH: All Lightning vs. Blue Jackets highlights]
Joonas Korpisalo made 31 saves in the loss.
“It’s been quite a bit of hockey,” Columbus coach John Tortorella said “From the Qualifier starting the playoffs, right away we were the first game. I think I’m going to put it up to that because it’s a whole group. That’s the thing that it kind of determines, is it wasn’t just one person, it was a whole group of men that struggled tonight.”
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