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After he missed Game 2, Tampa Bay Lightning star rookie Ondrej Palat is in the lineup for Game 3, a game-time decision for coach Jon Cooper.
Palat, who played all 82 games in the regular season, suffered an upper-body injury in the first game of the series with the Canadiens and was questionable for Game 2 but ultimately didn't dress. His status wasn't clear until the warmup skate.
Right now the Lightning are in a world of hurt, losing the first two games of the series at home and now heading to a raucous Montreal to face a surging Canadiens team. Having their impact rookie, who plays well at both ends of the ice and finished the season as the Lightning's leading scorer, is awfully nice.
Palat finished the season with 23 goals and 59 points this season to garner a lot of talk for the Calder Trophy as the league's top rookie.
But that's just one of a few changes for the Lightning, changes that include Sami Salo being out with an upper-body injury. But with his team in a big hole, Cooper made a few more adjustments.
Big lineup changes for #TBLightning in Game 3. No Salo, Kostka, Kucherov or Panik. Replaced by Palat, Crombeen, Barberio and Pyatt.
— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) April 20, 2014
No matter the lineup, Cooper isn't throwing in the towel in the series before Game 3.
Jon Cooper on Habs: "I'm sure they've never had a 2-0 series lead on the road and blown it."
— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) April 20, 2014
The Bolts coach is quite the quote.
