MONTREAL -- It looked like it would be easy when Rene Bourque scored for the Montreal Canadiens only 11 seconds into the game. But the Canadiens needed a third-period goal from Tomas Plekanec and some fine saves from Carey Price to down the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-2 on Sunday night and take a choke hold on their NHL Eastern Conference playoff series. The victory gave Montreal a 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven set with a chance to sweep the Bolts on home ice in Game 4 on Tuesday night. "Weve seen many scenarios in the playoffs and we have to have the same approach for the next game as we had for the last three," said Montreal defenceman P.K. Subban, who had a pair of assists in a standout performance. "Theyre a good team. "They had a lot of opportunities to score. They fought their way back into the game. They put pucks on the net and came hard to the end. We know theyll fight until the final buzzer, so we have to be ready next game." Brendan Gallagher also scored for Montreal while Ondrej Palat, back after missing a game with an injury, and defenceman Matthew Carle replied for Tampa Bay. Montreal outshot the Lightning 31-29, but there were nervy moments and a disputed, disallowed goal as the visitors pushed back in the second and third frames. "We were determined, we played with passion, I thought we responded unreal," said Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper. "Its tough to walk into that locker-room and look those guys in the eye. "Clearly, that was the best game weve played in this series. I though they deserved a better fate. Ultimately, its a loss and thats what hurts the most." The Canadiens have a chance to avenge their only previous playoff meeting with the Lightning, who swept them in 2004 before going on to win the Stanley Cup. After winning the first two games in Tampa, Fla., the Canadiens returned to a rousing welcome from their fans and a spectacular pre-game show. The crowd of 21,273 was still roaring after joining old-time Quebec pop singer Ginette Reno in the Canadian anthem when Subban bounced a pass up the middle of the ice and Bourque collected it behind the Lightning defence. The unexpected scoring hero put his third of the series past Anders Lindback at the 11-second mark -- and the noise got even louder. "I didnt really know who (Reno) was, but by the reaction I knew it was somebody popular," said Bourque. "She did a great job getting the fans fired up. "We didnt plan it at all. It was a lucky bounce." Lindback made up for it with some strong saves as the Lightning cancelled the Canadiens early emotion by killing off a four-minute high-sticking call on rearguard Mike Barberio. Palat tied it 8:39 into the second frame as he buried the ricochet of a Steven Stamkos shot off Mike Weavers skate on the Bolts first power play. Then the Lightning poured it on, and looked like they had the go-ahead goal, only to see Subban bat a flying puck out of the air behind Price. Seconds later, Ryan Callahan put the puck in at 15:38 only to see it waived off due to what was ruled as incidental contact on Price by Alex Killorn. The Bolts felt the goal was good. "I was (angry) then and Im (angry) now," said Cooper. "Thats just my opinion. Ill let the court of public opinion take care of the rest." Of course, the Canadiens thought the officials got the call right. "It was a pass across, it got deflected in the air," said Price. "Subban batted it out of the air and it wound up kind of a scramble. "I tried to come back across the net and tripped over their guy, who was right in the middle of the crease. At that point, I didnt know what was going on." Less than three minutes later, the teams were each down a man when Subban picked up the puck, skated through the defence and around the net to set up Gallagher for his second goal of the series at 18:10. "I just tried to create space," said Subban, who had a team-high 28:03 of ice time. "I took a penalty earlier in the period and I felt good when I came back on the ice and the guys had killed it off. "Larry (Lars Eller) made a great play behind the net to move it to open ice. I tried to draw the forechecker to me and see what happened. I went behind the net. Gally did a great job to get himself open. It makes it easy for me to get it to him." Plekanec scored what would be the game-winner when he threaded a shot through from the right circle 5:43 into the third period. But Carle made it close with a point shot that looked to deflect off a body in front at 11:36. The Canadiens held off a late charge to put the win away. The lightning got a scare at 16:09 of the second when Stamkos fell after jostling with Brandon Prust and got hit in the head by Alexei Emelins knee. But the Bolts scoring star was able to return for the third period and picked up his second assist of the night on Carles goal. Cooper made four lineup changes, bringing in forwards Palat, Tom Pyatt and B.J. Crombeen and defenceman Barberio and scratching Sami Salo, Michael Kostka, Richard Panik and Nikita Kucherov. Salo reportedly has an upper body injury. Montreal made no changes. Notes: The Canadiens called up a taxi squad from AHL Hamilton, including goalies Dustin Tokarski and Devan Dubnyk, defencemen Nathan Beaulieu, Davis Drewiske and Greg Pateryn and forwards Sven Andrighetto, Mike Blundin, Gabriel Dumont, Louis Leblanc and Christian Thomas. . . Bourques goal was not a team record for fastest to start a game. Bo Gainey scored seven seconds into a playoff game in 1977. Authentic Tyler Johnson Jersey . Funny, they looked like longtime friends during Pittsburghs 5-1 demolition of Dallas on Tuesday night. Quick to the puck and even quicker to the net, the Penguins top line overwhelmed the suddenly struggling Stars as Pittsburgh bounced back from a dismal weekend sweep at the hands of Philadelphia by jumping on Dallas early. Authentic Wayne Ellington Jersey . "Youre not really spending time to sit back and analyze what your competitions doing and things like that," Anthopoulos said. "Youre so focused on what were trying to get done." Ultimately, while the landscape around them changed with trades both major and minor, the Blue Jays did nothing before Thursdays non-waiver deadline. http://www.cheapheatjerseysauthentic.com/.Y. - DeMarre Carroll felt as though he couldnt miss in the second quarter as he outscored the Brooklyn Nets 14-13 all by himself. Authentic James Johnson Jersey . On Wednesday night, they showed that stellar defence and a little small ball can get the job done too. With pinch-runner Kevin Pillar aboard after Dioner Navarro opened the bottom of the ninth with a single, Anthony Gose dropped down an excellent bunt along the first-base line. Wholesale Heat Jerseys Authentic . Louis Blues and back into top spot of the TSN.ca NHL Power Rankings. The Sharks had been ranked No.Back in the day, the same four of us (Jon, Ian, Darren, and I) would meet up at Montreals legendary Copacabana to watch whatever game was on. We were regulars at the bar, a kind dive where you could just drop in and know someone familiar would be around to have a beer with. The kind of place where the adult beverage of choice was quickly placed in front of you upon your arrival. We were there to watch games, but it was more than that. We were a bunch of writers, at different points in our careers and lives, getting away from our lives. It was group therapy. With beer. There were few better nights in those years than a good Habs game at Copa. Friends would come in and out, for a period or two, for a drink or four. Partners would join us, or not. Between periods wed chide each other the way friends do, bemoan each others losses, celebrate each others victories. We played a game within the game called JägerMuller. If Habs assistant coach Kirk Muller appeared on screen (not including wide angle or crowd shots) the last person to yell JägerMuller had to buy a round of Jägermeister for the group. This often led to empty wallets and foggy third periods, but JägerMuller was ours and it made a contextual experience all that more unique, all that more memorable. As time passed, the opportunity to watch sports as a group got more and more challenging. Copa closed. People had kids, moved away, traveled for work, or had partners who wouldnt permit them to indulge in Tuesday night binge drinking. But we live in the high speed digital age, an age ruled by social media and easy communication. The four of us opened up a Facebook thread that was for any sort of conversation: dating woes, the challenges of child rearing, the merits of wasabi peas, politics, the importance of Tums to men in their 30s, the overwhelming fear of ones own mortality, the petulance of poets, why soccer sucks. We tried Skype and Google Hangouts, but as aging writers we found we preferred the anonymity of messaging, the quiet comfort of watching the game both alone and in the company of those we love. But for the most part the thread is for watching hockey games together from afar, often still with our favourite adult beverage in hand, though the days of JägerMuller are over. That games virtues, like nachos, dont transfer well through the digital ether. The Facebook threads message count is somewhere in the mid-40 thousand range as of this writing, and growing each day. An exponential explosion is expected during the playoffs, though Jon (a Jets fan) and Ian (a Leafs apologist) will be forced to cheer for their second favourite teams. The virtual bar that the digital age has provided us pales in comparison to their company, but it has allowed us to stay close, to continue to care about each other the way we did when were separated by city blocks and not oceans and responsibilities. But the bar that we left just a few years ago is not the same bar where sports are enjoyed today. Its a lesser venue. Consider the bar argument. No longer can hours be spent fighting over what year Gretzky scored 50 goals in 39 games, what round Luc Robitaille was drafted in, the rate at which Randy Carlyles hairline has been receding. Answers are too quickly found on our phones, and the shortened distance of knowledge does not promote an expanse of conversation. Pluus, the bars too busy tweeting cleverness in 140 characters, or arguing with some 12-year-old in Abbostford over whos the better d-man, Subban or Weber.dddddddddddd Or instagramming retro-filtered photos of our cocktails. Or adding the waitress as a friend on Facebook. Theres a grand irony in the fact that the same advents that have made watching sports a more communal experience with those who cant be in our presence has had the opposite effect on those in our presence. On the off nights where my friends cant meet up in the digital bar, and I dont have the wherewithal or funds to hit the real bar I, like most, watch games with Twitter open. But instead of finding a substitute for those who cant be with me, Im overwhelmed by the faux-expertise and bravado that ends up in my feed. Just because you have a blog and 45 Twitter followers doesnt exactly make you Bob McKenzie. I appreciate fandom and respect the free speech virtues of the medium, but holy hell @HabsFan4lyfe69 if you cant spell Michel Therrien, you really shouldnt be offered the privilege of publicly questioning the size of his manhood. The amount of valuable discourse is too often overshadowed by the sycophantic, or vile, or uninformed. Just look at what happens when Joel Ward scores in overtime or Jason Collins steps on the court the first time. The degenerate xenophobes bear their virtual white sheets in the comfortable anonymity or ignorant ignominy of cyberspace. There are no bouncers online, no bartenders with the ability to cut off the flow of alcohol. But sports are the last collective viewing experience, with the possible exception of the Oscars. With the advent of PVRs and streaming video you can watch Scandal whenever you please, but the sport still requires a live audience. No one wants to watch the game later. Even if youre stuck at work, on a plane, or at your boyfriends sisters third intervention, you can tune in, not miss a shot, a goal, a fight, or a one of those once-in-a-lifetime moments that only sport can provide. In 2010 when the Habs made their magical run to the Conference Finals, one of us couldnt make it to Copa to watch the game. Jon was stuck in a hotel room in Vancouver, watching it on his own. There was no thread then. We didnt all own smartphones. No one said "blogoshpere". The Jets were still the Thrashers. Maybe two of us were on Twitter. So as the bar counted down the minutes of Game 7 of an improbable 5-2 Habs win and an improbable series upset over the heavily-favoured Penguins, I called Jon and placed my flip phone open in the middle of our table. He listened as we sung "Olé, Olé, Olé", as we cheered and piled into the streets, as we mocked Sidney Crosby. Strangers would come pick up the phone and speak to him in English and French about the game, about the city, and about the Habs and dreams of 1993. That night was a microcosm of how we watch the games now, the birth of how fandom and friendship defies distance in a digital age. It was a living analogy of how in four short years the experience of watching sports would change. Not all for the better, of course. But Ill put up with a few egotistical bloggers, the occasional Twitter tantrum, and the death of the bar argument if it means I can watch sports the way I want, from wherever I am, with the people I love. 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