Lightning edge Avalanche in Game 5, extend Stanley Cup Final

DENVER -- Ondrej Palat broke a tie with 6:22 left in the third period, and the Tampa Bay Lightning kept their three-peat bid alive with a 3-2 win against the Colorado Avalanche in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final at Ball Arena on Friday.

Palat's one-timer from between the circles rattled between the pads of Darcy Kuemper before sliding over the goal line.
Jan Rutta and Nikita Kucherov scored, Corey Perry and Mikhail Sergachev each had two assists, and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 35 saves for the two-time defending champion Lightning.
"You're down in in the series, the Cup is in the building, you're in a great environment for the home team," Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said. "And how do you show gamesmanship? You do everything they just did. You get the lead, you defend, you kill off penalties, score on the power play, and then when you need the big goal at the end, you get it."
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Valeri Nichushkin and Cale Makar each had a goal and an assist, and Kuemper made 26 saves for the Avalanche, who lead 3-2 in the best-of-7 series with another chance to close it out in Game 6 at Tampa Bay on Sunday.
"It's not supposed to be easy and it's not going to be easy," Colorado captain Gabriel Landeskog said. "We knew that coming into this, we knew that coming into tonight. … Vasilevskiy had another good night. We felt good about our game, we tied it up in the third and then obviously they created a slot shot there that squeezes through 'Kuemps.'
"So, it is what it is. Short memory in the playoffs, and that's what we're going to do."

The Lightning are trying to become the second team in NHL history to rally from trailing 3-1 to win a best-of-7 Cup final (1-35). The Toronto Maple Leafs came back from 3-0 down against the Detroit Red Wings in the 1942 Final. Tampa Bay trailed 3-2 against Toronto in the Eastern Conference First Round and 2-0 against the New York Rangers in the conference final.
"We extend the season and that's what we wanted to do," Lightning captain Steven Stamkos said. "We talked about one game at a time. It was a grind, but we found a way. Great effort and now we've got to do it again."
Rutta gave the Lightning a 1-0 lead with 4:37 left in the first period on the rush with a slap shot from the right circle that went under Kuemper's glove and over his left pad. It was the defenseman's first goal in 18 Stanley Cup Playoff games since Game 3 of the Cup Final against the Montreal Canadiens last season.
"It was just a little bit of a knuckler," Kuemper said. "Happens. You do things the right way, that's all you can do. Obviously, you don't want to let any goals in. But it happens."
Nichushkin tied it 1-1 on a rebound 5:07 into the second period. Makar's initial shot from above the right circle hit Vasilevskiy on the left shoulder and dropped down at the top of the crease to his right. Nichushkin was there to backhand the puck into the net for his fourth goal of the Final.

Tampa Bay took a 2-1 lead on Kucherov's 4-on-3 power-play goal at 8:10 of the second. After defenseman Josh Manson blocked shots by Stamkos and Kucherov earlier in the power play, Stamkos faked a shot from the left circle before feeding Kucherov for a one-timer from the high slot that went through Perry's screen in front and past Kuemper on the stick side.
The Lightning were 1-for-16 on the power play in the series before that.
"I just knew if I maybe pump-faked, they would give a lane to make a play and, obviously, give it to 'Kuch' and he made no mistake," Stamkos said. "But it was a big moment in the game. You get a 4-on-3, you want to capitalize, and we can get some confidence off that as well."
Makar tied it 2-2 at 2:31 of the third when the rebound of his shot from the right circle deflected in off the skate of Lightning defenseman Erik Cernak in front. But Tampa Bay was undeterred by the unfortunate break.
"It went off our skate, and in the net," Perry said. "Bounces happen, but at the same time, you have to create your own bounces and it was only a couple minutes later or whatever it was where we found a way to put one in the back of the net."
The Lightning were patient moving the puck around in the Avalanche zone before Palat was able to slide back into open ice between the circles when Makar and Nichushkin chased after defenseman Victor Hedman at the bottom of the left circle. Hedman quickly fed Palat for his Lightning-best 11th goal of this postseason.
"I was just trying to get open and get lost a little bit, and I saw 'Heddy' and he sees me, so it was just easy shot for me," Palat said. "I'm just trying to one-time it, and lucky enough it went in."
NOTES: Palat scored the 12th game-winning playoff goal of his NHL career, adding to his Lightning record. Joe Pavelski of the Dallas Stars (14) and Evgeni Malkin of the Pittsburgh Penguins (13) are the only active players with more. … Avalanche forward Andre Burakovsky missed a third straight game since being hit in the hand with the puck in Game 2. … Lightning center Brayden Point missed a third straight game with a lower-body injury.