Lightning never trail, nab a road win in Game 5 vs. Avalanche

DENVER — As time wound down in the third period Friday night — with the Stanley Cup in the building and the Lightning’s season on the line — Ondrej Palat skated into a crowd in front of the Avalanche net.

The forward then drifted back into the slot, and as defenseman Victor Hedman took the puck down low toward the goal line by the far post, the Avalanche forgot about the Lightning’s Mr. Clutch.

Two Avalanche skaters left Palat to chase Hedman, and Palat lifted his stick to call for a one-timer. Hedman threaded a pass perfectly through traffic, and Palat went to one knee and unloaded. He filled the back of the net with yet another winning postseason goal to extend the Lightning’s season and their chase for three straight Stanley Cup titles.

Palat’s goal with 6:22 remaining in regulation gave Tampa Bay a 3-2 win in Game 5 at Ball Arena and a chance to even the series at three games each on home ice Sunday in Game 6.

“We always joke with ‘Pally’ that he just finds a way,” captain Steven Stamkos said. " ‘Sneaky P’ found a way to put one in there. Obviously, another huge one for us. We extend the season, and that’s what we wanted to do. We talked about one game at a time, and it was a grind, but we found a way.”

The Lightning had been outplayed in the two previous games in Denver, but in Game 5 they showed the will befitting a team that has won back-to-back Cup titles.

“You just watched the definition (of gamers),” coach Jon Cooper said.

Palat isn’t the first player who first comes to mind on a Lightning roster full of dynamic scorers, but his goal was his 12th career winner in the postseason, third most among active players, behind only Joe Pavelski (14) and Evgeni Malkin (13).

“He’s an elite player in this league,” forward Pat Maroon said. “He’s a star in this league, and he’s a big-time player in this league, and he shows up in big moments.”

After the game, Cooper reminisced about Palat’s first days in the AHL, when the organization pondered whether to groom him in the minors or send him back to juniors. The Lightning liked his game and his work ethic, and he has grown from a seventh-round draft pick to a key piece of the Lightning’s veteran core.

“And as (Palat) tells me quite often, he remembers every game I healthy-scratched him early in his career,” Cooper said. “And I say, ‘I have never healthy-scratched you.’ So we always get in this argument, but I think he may have sat out a couple games. But what you’re seeing today is what we saw in him.”

In Palat’s hometown, Frydek-Mistek, Czech Republic, where it was early Saturday, a crowd watched him play the role of hero again.