Montreal staved off elimination for the second match in a row by beating Tampa Bay 2-1 on Saturday, cutting the NHL series deficit to 3-2 and raising the rare prospect of winning a best-of-seven playoff series after having trailed 3-0.
The winning goal came with 4:07 left when P.K. Subban slipped the puck to Pierre-Alexandre Parenteau for a long shot that went over the glove of Lightning goaltender Ben Bishop and into the net.
Game six is on Tuesday back in Florida and the Canadiens now believe they can become only the fifth team in NHL history to rally from a 3-0 deficit.
"We don't want this thing to end," Parenteau said. "We worked hard for each other and we got rewarded. We win two games and hopefully it's not over."
Devante Smith-Pelley opened the scoring for Montreal midway through the first period, and Steven Stamkos tied it at 9:27 of the third.
Carey Price made 24 saves for the Canadiens, and Bishop stopped 27 shots for the Lightning.
