Steven Stamkos of Markham, Ontario made a significant contribution to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday in game three of the Stanley Cup Finals, a 6-2 Lightning win over the Colorado Avalanche. Stamkos was one of five Lightning players with a multi-point game as he had one goal and one assist for two points. He joined Ondrej Palat, Pat Maroon, Nikita Kucherov, and Victor Headman.
Stamkos assisted on Tampa Bay’s second goal, a goal by Ondrej Palat at 14:54 of the first period, which put the Lightning up 2-1. Stamkos then scored on Tampa Bay’s fourth goal at 7:52 of the second period from Kucherov and Zach Bogosian, to put the Lightning up 4-2. Both of Stamkos’s points were on even strength goals.
Three other Canadians scored for the Lightning in game three. Anthony Cirelli of Etobicoke, Ontario scored from Pat Maroon at 13:03 of the first period to tie the game at one. Nick Paul of Mississauga, Ontario scored from Ross Colton at 1:26 of the second period to put the Lightning up 3-1. Canadian Olympic gold medalist Corey Perry of Peterborough, Ontario then put the Lightning up 6-2 at 14:58 of the second period from Palat and Hedman to close out the scoring. Perry won the gold medal for Canada at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver and the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi.
Paul, who began the season with the Ottawa Senators, notched his second playoff career game-winning goal. He previously had the game-winner in a 2-1 Lightning win over the Toronto Maple Leafs in game seven of the 2022 Eastern Conference quarterfinals on May 14.
With the win in Tampa Bay on Monday night, the Lightning won their first game of the series. But they still trail the Colorado Avalanche two games to one in the best out of seven series.