TAMPA, FLA. — Juraj Slafkovsky scored his third power-play goal of the game 1:22 into overtime to lift the Montreal Canadiens to a 4-3 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series in Tampa, Fla. The 22-year-old forward, the No. 1 pick in the 2022 NHL Draft, completed his hat trick with a slap shot from the left circle that beat goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy.

Slafkovsky became the youngest player in NHL history with a hat trick in a postseason opener, passing Wayne Gretzky, who was also 22 when he accomplished the feat in 1983. He also became the first player in NHL history to record three power-play goals, including an overtime winner, in any postseason game.

Montreal coach Martin St. Louis, a Hockey Hall of Fame forward and former Lightning player, called a timeout during the overtime power play just before the winning goal.

"I think he was just trying to give us a little break. Marty just wanted to talk it over, and see what we wanted to do. We didn't want to change anything, we had already been out there, but we just wanted to try to end the game." Montreal captain Nick Suzuki said.

Josh Anderson gave Montreal a 1-0 lead in the first period by flipping a top-shelf shot into an open net. Anderson had another goal overturned by video review in the second period because his stick was above the crossbar.

Darren Raddysh tied the game at 1-1 with a slap shot in the second period, and Brandon Hagel backhanded a loose puck past rookie goalie Jakub Dobes 29 seconds later to put Tampa Bay ahead 2-1. Slafkovsky one-timed a seam pass from Ivan Demidov from the right circle to tie the game at 2-2 in the final minute of the second period. His next shot, from the high slot, slid under Vasilevskiy's left pad to give Montreal a brief lead, before Hagel's power-play tip-in off a pass from Jake Guentzel at 8:58 of the third period tied the game at 3-3.

Dobes made 20 saves in the NHL's first overtime game of the 2026 postseason. "It's been unbelievable, honestly. This year, he obviously took a huge stride. He's a power forward, a big guy, and it's just hard to stop him." Anderson said of Slafkovsky, who made his NHL playoff debut last season.

Tampa Bay activated center Dominic James from long-term injured reserve before Game 1. James, who missed the final 24 games of the regular season with a lower body injury and underwent surgery in March, skated on the fourth line and played nine shifts covering 7:18 of ice time. The Lightning have been knocked out of the playoffs in the first round in each of the past three seasons, and fell two wins shy of a Stanley Cup three-peat in 2022.

Game 2 of the series is Tuesday night at Benchmark International Arena. The Lightning have lost eight of their last nine home postseason games at that venue.