Montreal's Kirby Dach celebrates the OT game-winning goal by teammate Lane Hutson against Tampa Bay goalie AndreiVasilevskly Friday night in Montreal. (AP photo)

MONTREAL (AP) — Lane Hutson scored on a slap shot at 2:09 of overtime and the Montreal Canadiens beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-2 on Friday night to take a 2-1 lead in the first-round series that has opened with three extra-time thrillers.

Hutson fired a shot from the top of right circle that went through traffic and found the top left corner behind goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy on the only shot on goal in overtime.

Kirby Dach tied it for Montreal with 7:17 left in the second period. He fired a snap shot through traffic from the top of the right circle that beat Vasilevskiy on the short side.

Game 4 is Sunday night in Montreal. The Canadiens took the opener 4-3 on Sunday and the Lightning countered 3-2 on Tuesday night.

Dach assisted on Alexandre Texier’s opening goal at 4:53 of the first period. Jakub Dobes stopped 15 shots,

Brayden Point and Brandon Hagel scored for Tampa Bay, and Vasilevskiy made 26 saves. In the third, Vasilevskiy stymied Cole Caufield and Josh Anderson on breakaways.

Point tied it on a power play at 7:42 of the first. After Dobes was penalized for tripping Yanni Gourde, Point took Jake Guentzel’s centering pass and ripped a shot past Dobes’ blocker from the high slot.

Hagel gave Tampa Bay the lead at 4:47 of the second with his fourth goal of the series. After a Montreal turnover at its own the blue line, Hagel beat Dobes with a snap shot to the short side from the top of the left circle.

WESTERN CONFERENCE

UTAH 4, LAS VEGAS 2

Lawson Crouse scored twice in a 5:42 span in the second period and the Utah Mammoth won the first NHL playoff game in the state for a 2-1 series lead.

Game 4 of the best-of-seven series is Monday night in Salt Lake City. Utah evened the series in Las Vegas on Tuesday after winning 3-2. Vegas won the series opener 4-2 on its home ice on Sunday.

The Mammoth are in their second season in Utah after leaving Arizona.

Crouse’s goals capped an early flurry that saw the Mammoth score four times over the first 30 minutes while being limited to only eight shots on goal during that stretch.

MacKenzie Weegar and Dylan Guenther scored for Utah in the first period, with Guenther striking on a power play. Crouse followed in the second. He tipped in the puck at the 4:06 mark and then struck on a long shot between the circles at 9:48 to make it 4-0.

DUCKS 7, OILERS 4

Beckett Sennecke and Leo Carlsson scored 42 seconds apart in the third period, Mikael Granlund had a goal and two assists, and the Anaheim Ducks celebrated their first home playoff game in eight years and a 2-1 series lead.

Jeffrey Viel and Jackson LaCombe also scored in the third and Lukas Dostal made 20 saves for the upstart Ducks, who have poured in 16 goals in three games to take an early lead in this first-round series against the two-time Western Conference champion Oilers. Mason McTavish and Alex Killorn scored early goals.

Backed by a raucous sellout crowd hungry for Orange County’s first playoff hockey since 2018, the Ducks overcame their season-long defensive shortcomings by outscoring the powerhouse Oilers even after Connor McDavid recorded his first points of the series.