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Paquette, Bishop lift Lightning past Blackhawks in Game 3

Jun 9, 2015 - 5:07 AM Chicago, IL (SportsNetwork.com) - Cedric Paquette scored the deciding goal late in regulation and Ben Bishop battled in net as the Lightning willed their way to an all-important victory in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Finals.

Bishop made 36 saves to backstop Tampa Bay to a 3-2 win over the Chicago Blackhawks at United Center Monday night.

The Lightning netminder was a game-time decision after leaving Saturday's Game 2 victory twice during the third period. He appeared to be in pain, struggling to get to his skates on several occasions, but stayed in net and helped his team take a 2-1 series lead.

"It's going to take a lot to not play in a Stanley Cup Finals game," said Bishop. "As the game went on, I felt better and more comfortable."

Ryan Callahan tallied a goal and an assist, Ondrej Palat also scored and Victor Hedman supplied two assists for the Lightning, who won their fourth straight road game.

Road teams that win Game 3 in the Stanley Cup Finals after the series is tied are 13-0 in NHL history.

Brad Richards and Brandon Saad each scored for the Blackhawks, while Corey Crawford stopped 29 shots in defeat.

The series continues Wednesday with Game 4 in Chicago.

Saad briefly put the Blackhawks ahead 4:14 into the third period. Duncan Keith received the puck at the point off the cycle and shuffled it down to Marian Hossa at the right circle. Saad took a pass from Hossa and beat Bishop's glove with a quick wrister for a 2-1 lead.

Tampa Bay's "Triplets" line responded just 13 seconds later. Nikita Kucherov raced into the offensive zone and sent a shot on net. Crawford made the initial stop, but Palat jammed the loose puck past the netminder's pad for a tied game.

Hedman raced through the neutral zone, drifted toward the left circle and sent the puck to Paquette, who wristed it past an unsuspecting Crawford from the slot for his first career postseason game-winning goal with 3:11 left in regulation.

"Two games in a row we've had the lead, but it's been short-lived both times," Chicago head coach Joel Quenneville said. "Two tough losses in a row."

The Blackhawks pulled Crawford in favor of an extra attacker with 1:42 to play, but were unable to force overtime.

Crawford was alert early as he made a pad stop on Steven Stamkos' slapper nearly three minutes in and denied Anton Stralman's shot from the slot off a slick feed from Kucherov moments later.

Callahan opened the scoring 5:09 into the game. Hedman sent a stretch pass from his own goal line to Callahan, who accepted the feed at the blue line, broke in on a breakaway and fired a shot from the right circle that rang off the crossbar and into the net.

"He's a gamer," Lightning head coach Jon Cooper said of Callahan. "He just led the charge."

Prior to the nine-minute mark of the first period, Hossa tracked down a loose puck and had an open net at which to shoot after Bishop was well out of his crease, but he fired a shot wide after getting tripped up by defenseman Braydon Coburn.

Coburn went to the penalty box for a second time after hooking Saad, and the Blackhawks went to work.

Andrew Shaw kept the play alive along the boards and set a screen in front for Richards, whose point shot went off Bishop's glove for the tying goal with 5:38 remaining in the opening stanza

Just over five minutes into the second period, Antoine Vermette gathered a Lightning turnover and moved in on net all alone, but his backhander was calmly stopped by Bishop in tight.

Crawford continued to dazzle, stopping Kucherov's breakaway after exiting the penalty box and Paquette's rising wrister just over a minute later with a shoulder stop.

With Bryan Bickell already in the penalty box, Saad crashed the net following a give-and-go and hit Bishop up high to give the Lightning a two-man advantage for 1:26.

Chicago, however, stood its ground with a terrific penalty kill.

Patrick Kane skated up the right side, deked past a defender and shoveled a pass across the slot to Saad, who was denied by Bishop to start the third.

Game Notes

Hedman set a new Lightning franchise record for career playoff assists with 21 ... Tampa Bay improved to 11-1 when scoring first and 3-1 in Game 3s this postseason ... Blackhawks' defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk logged 9:01 in his first game since Nov. 6 ... Dating back to 2011, eight of the last 10 games between the two teams have been determined by one goal.