Lightning hold on for 3-2 win over Avalanche to force Game 6

With the game tied 2-2 in the third period, the Lightning's Ondrej Palat played hero, scoring the game-winning goal with under seven minutes left in Game 5. Palat got open at the top of the slot and one-timed a Victor Hedman pass by Colorado goaltender Darcy Kuemper, helping send the series back to Tampa Bay for Game 6. 

For the second straight game in the series, goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy was tremendous in net for the Lightning. Vasilevskiy turned away 35 of 37 of Colorado's shots, plus all three pucks sent his way on the penalty kill. 

Tampa Bay's Jan Rutta kicked off the scoring Friday night, firing home a slap-shot goal to give the Lightning a 1-0 lead late in the first period.

The Avalanche responded early in the second period when Valeri Nichushkin scored, knocking home a rebound to tie the game 1-1 at 5:07. However, Nikita Kucherov scored on the power-play minutes later, putting the Lightning up 2-1 heading into the third period. 

Colorado responded again, tying the game on Cale Makar's goal just 2:31 into the third. The game remained tied throughout the first half of the period until Palat's game-winner. 

The Lightning will look to stay alive once again and force a Game 7 on Sunday when they host the Avalanche for Game 6 at 8 p.m. ET.