Lightning Lose Opener, Slafkovsky Shines

0:00It's April 20th, NHL News Today starts now, AI-powered and game-ready. I'm Cory with the story. Tampa Bay Lightning dropped Game 1 to the Montreal Canadiens, 4-3 in overtime. It was a gritty battle, but Jorosh Lovkovsky stole the show with a hat trick, all on power plays. The bolts grabbed Lee's twice, only to give them back on penalties, including one that set up the winner. Fans were heated about the refs, chanting their frustration at the arena. Calls got overturned both ways, but Tampa still shot themselves in the foot with too many trips to the box. They led the league in penalty minutes this season, and it bit them hard, especially killing their momentum after a strong second period. Shoutout to Brandon Hagel, though. He came alive with two big goals, one flipping the lead and another tying it on the power play. Last playoffs were rough for him, scoreless and most games, but he played with fire tonight. Their power play clicked too, going two for five after struggling bad last year.

1:03Solid defense from Vasyletski helped on the kills, but the high temple from Montreal wore them down shorthanded. Home ice has been a curse lately, just one playoff win here since 2022. They hung tough till the end, looking sharper than in recent losses. Game 2's Tuesday at 7 p.m., Eastern clean up those penalties and they flip this series.