Ondrej Palat made Tampa Bay Lightning on Sunday. When he scored his game-winning goal with 42 seconds left in game three of the NHL Eastern Conference Final, Palat set the Lightning record for most game-winning goals in the Stanley Cup Playoffs with 10. Palat scored from Nikita Kucherov and Victor Hedman, and gave the Lightning a 3-2 come-from-behind win to beat the New York Rangers in game three of the Eastern Conference Final. The Lightning were trailing 2-0 to the Rangers in the second period, before Kucherov and Steven Stamkos each scored to tie the game at 2. With the win, the Lightning won their first game of the best out of seven series, but still trail the Rangers two games to one.
Palat, a native of Frydek-Mistek, Czech Republic, broke a Lightning record that he was previously tied with Tyler Johnson. Brett Hull and Wayne Gretzky share the record for the most game-winning goals in a playoff career with 24 each.
Palat’s nine other game-winning postseason goals
1) April 19, 2016–
In game four of the first round of the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs, Palat scored from Kucherov and Jonathan Drouin on the power-play to break a 2-2 deadlock between the Lightning and Detroit Red Wings with 2:59 left in the third period. The Lightning won the game 3-2 and took a 3-1 series lead.
2) May 13, 2016–
In game one of the 2016 Eastern Conference Final, Palat scored from Valtteri Filppula and Jason Garrison in a 3-1 Tampa Bay win over the Pittsburgh Penguins. Palat’s goal was on the power-play at 2:33 of the second period, and put the Lightning up 2-0 at the time.
3) April 30, 2018–
In game two of the second round of the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs, Palat scored from Brayden Point in a 4-2 Tampa Bay win over the Boston Bruins. Palat’s goal was even strength at 14:08 of the third period, and put the Lightning up 3-1 at the time. The Lightning tied the series at one game apiece.
4) May 2, 2018–
Two nights later in game three of the second round of the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs, Palat scored the first two goals of the game in a 4-1 Tampa Bay win over the Boston Bruins. Palat’s game-winner at 3:19 of the first period (92 seconds after he put Tampa Bay up 1-0) came from Hedman and Dan Girardi, and put Tampa Bay up 2-1 in the series.
5) August 25, 2020–
In game two of the second round of the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs in the Toronto bubble, Palat scored the overtime winner from Yanni Gourde and Patrick Maroon in a 4-3 Lightning win over the Bruins at 4:40 of the extra period. With the win, the Lightning tied the series at one game apiece.
Related: Ondrej Palat Scores First Career Stanley Cup Playoff Overtime Winner
6) August 29, 2020–
In game four of the second round of the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs in the Toronto bubble, Palat scored the first two goals for the Lightning in a 3-1 win over the Bruins. Palat’s game-winner put the Lightning up 2-0 at 12:29 of the second period. The goal was an even strength marker from Anthony Cirelli and Kucherov, and put the Lightning up 3-1 in the series.
7) September 13, 2020–
In game four of the Eastern Conference Final, Palat scored the game-winning goal at 11:54 of the second period from Kucherov and Point to break a 1-1 deadlock against the New York Islanders, and give Tampa Bay a 2-1 lead in a 4-1 Lightning win. With the win, the Lightning took a 3-1 series lead on the Islanders.
8) May 18, 2021–
In game two of the first round of the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs, Palat scored from Point and Kucherov at 14:57 of the first period. The goal put the Lightning up 2-0 at the time in a 3-1 Tampa Bay win over the Florida Panthers. With the win, the Lightning went up two games to none.
9) May 22, 2021–
In game four of the first round of the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Lightning clobbered the Panthers 6-2 in a matinee. Palat scored from Erik Cernak and Kucherov at 16:45 of the first period, and put the Lightning up 3-1 at the time. Tampa Bay went on to win the series and their second straight Stanley Cup.
Related: Andrei Vasilevskiy Sensational As Tampa Bay Lightning Win 2021 Stanley Cup
Game four of the Eastern Conference Final between the Lightning and Rangers is Tuesday in Tampa Bay. The Lightning (-173) are favoured to tie the series against the Rangers (+156) according to betonline.ag.
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