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TAMPA, Fla. -- Having completed their regular-season series, the Tampa Bay Lightning and Montreal Canadiens soon could find themselves battling in the post-season. Tyler Johnson scored the go-ahead goal on a short-handed breakaway late in the third period and the Lightning clinched a playoff berth with a 3-1 victory over the Canadiens on Tuesday night. "Just being in the right spot and getting lucky sometimes," Johnson said. The win and losses by New Jersey and Washington gave Tampa Bay its first post-season berth since 2011 and only its second in seven years. Montreal ended a five-game winning streak, but also qualified for the post-season by virtue of the losses by New Jersey and Washington. Canadiens goalie Carey Price took some consolation in advancing to the post-season. "Were disappointed with our game today, but big picture, weve got to be happy with that," he said. The win moved Tampa Bay, with a game in hand, into a second-place tie with Montreal in the Atlantic Division. The second- and third-place teams in each division will meet in the first round of the playoffs. "Its just one game, but its really the 76 games all bottled into one," Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said. "What you are really striving for is to win the Stanley Cup, but you cannot win the Cup if you dont get into the playoffs." With teammate Nate Thompson serving a minor penalty for boarding, Johnson picked up a loose puck near the Montreal blue line, skated in on Price and backhanded a shot inside the left post with 7:19 remaining in the game. Canadiens right wing Brendan Gallagher was on one knee in the low slot when he redirected a rebound past goalie Ben Bishop to open the scoring 10:18 into the first period. Ryan Callahan made it 1-1 on a power play 9:19 into the second, skating through the left circle toward Price and lifting a shot high into the net. Tampa Bay was on a power play when Alex Killorn closed out the scoring with an empty-netter with 45 seconds left in the third period. Bishop finished with 25 saves, while Price stopped 30 shots. Tampa Bay winger Teddy Purcell slammed a shot past Price with 11.7 seconds left in the second period, but the officials ruled forward J.T. Brown made contact with the goaltender and disallowed the goal. The call drew an angry response from Tampa Bay fans after a replay appeared on the video screen. The crowd also became irate when Montreals Douglas Murray drew a match penalty for an illegal check to the head of fellow defenceman Michael Kostka, setting up a 5-on-3 advantage for the Lightning with 2:13 left in the game. "If the crowds reaction was anything after they saw it, then it seems that it was illegal," Cooper said. "Those are the hits you want to take out of the game. Im sure Murray wasnt looking to hit him in the head." Lightning forward Ondrej Palat, who earlier in the day was named the top NHL rookie for the second time in three months, assisted on the goals by Callahan and Killorn. NOTES: Tampa Bay C Valtteri Filppula, who came in with the longest points streak in the league at 12 games, came up empty. . Montreal C Tomas Plekanec returned after missing one game for personal reasons. . The home team won for the first time in the four-game season series. Lightning captain Steven Stamkos was sidelined with a broken leg for the first three games, each of which went to overtime tied at 1. . Price came in victorious in nine of his 10 previous starts. Bishop improved to 8-1-1 in his last 10. http://www.officiallionsgear.com/Lions-Nevin-Lawson-Draft-Jersey/ . However, it wasnt a problem on Monday night. Evgeni Nabokov made 23 saves for his 56th career shutout in the New York Islanders 3-0 win over the Detroit Red Wings on Monday night. http://www.officiallionsgear.com/Lions-Jalen-Reeves-Maybin-Draft-Jersey/ .com) - The Vancouver Canucks hope an upcoming stretch of home games will be enough to get the club into the postseason. http://www.officiallionsgear.com/Lions-Kenny-Golladay-Draft-Jersey/ . -- Patrick Kueng of Switzerland was nearly flawless as he captured his first World Cup and halted Aksel Lund Svindals streak of four straight super-G victories on Saturday. http://www.officiallionsgear.com/Lions-Michael-Roberts-Draft-Jersey/ .J. Mayo made seven three-pointers and scored 25 points, Ersan Ilyasova added 20, and the Milwaukee Bucks placed seven players in double figures in a 130-110 rout of the Philadelphia 76ers, who lost their 11th straight game on Monday night. http://www.officiallionsgear.com/Lions-Dwayne-Washington-Draft-Jersey/ . With the final four being arguably the four best – and most complete – teams from the regular season, picking a winner is not as easy as it sounds.Got a question on rule clarification, comments on rule enforcements or some memorable NHL stories? Kerry wants to answer your emails at cmonref@tsn.ca! Hi Kerry - Seeing as this game was broadcast nationally (U.S.) youre likely to hear a bunch about it: With 2:30 left in the 2nd period on Saturday afternoon in Boston, Jiri Tlusty of the Hurricanes beat Bruins captain Zdeno Chara up the ice on a fast-break and had a clear breakaway on Bruins goaltender Chad Johnson - Chara then reached around and chopped down on Tlustys stick from behind just as he was going into his shooting motion, causing the stick to snap in two. No call was made on the play. Weve seen slashing calls made when players simply drop their sticks - whats your assessment? Why the no-call? Thanks Kerry!Tyler in Phoenix. Tyler: The overriding factor for a slashing penalty to be assessed is defined in rule 61 as "a forceful or powerful chop with the stick". The referee must determine if (in his judgment) the "chop" was of sufficient force to cause the stick to break or if in fact the stick broke "accidentally" through some potential defect. We have seen composite graphite sticks that break with very minimal contact. Why no call you asked? In this case the referee must have determined tthat the downward chop by Zdeno Chara was not forceful or powerful enough to cause the stick of Jiri Tlusty to break as he was about to trigger a shot on a clear breakaway.dddddddddddd Now let me provide my assessment on the play. Zdeno Chara is really a strong man; perhaps the strongest I ever encountered in my 30 season in the NHL. Given the force Big Z generated with the downward chop of his stick (particularly at the finish) it is most reasonable to assume Jiri Tlustys stick broke as a result. A penalty shot should have been assessed to restore Tlustys lost scoring opportunity. Whenever a player is on a clear breakaway (no player to pass except the goalkeeper) a referee must be extremely alert to any potential foul from behind that would cause any loss of a reasonable scoring opportunity. A hook, trip or even a push from behind that causes the attacker to miss his scoring opportunity must be rewarded with a penalty shot. Just as Jiri Tlusty was in motion to shoot the puck Zdeno Chara made a swing with his stick in desperation from a position well behind the shooter. Clear contact was made above the blade of Tlustys stick resulting in a clean snap of the shaft and ultimately the loss of a scoring opportunity. I have called penalty shots for much less! 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