The third period of Game 3 between the New York Islanders and Tampa Bay Lightning was the craziest period of what is shaping up to be an intense, back-and-forth second-round series.
Returning from injury, Josh Bailey scored his second goal of the game at 2:27 to give the Islanders an early third-period lead at 3-2:
But just under a minute later, Vladislav Namestnikov tied it at 3-3 to erase any Isles dreams of holding their way to victory.
Then at 11:23 of the third, the fabled "best fourth line in hockey" struck when Cal Clutterbuck -- the man who brings serious talent to the line -- scored after good forechecking from the line following an offensive zone faceoff. That gave the Islanders a 4-3 lead:
It looked like the Isles might hang on to that for the win down the stretch, but they tempted fate with a couple of icings and loose slot coverage in the final minutes.
Then it happened: The playoffs' leading goal scorer Nikita Kucherov struck with just 38 seconds left in regulation, off a feed from Lightning prodigal son Jonathan Drouin -- who left the game earlier after a big, clean hit from Thomas Hickey -- to tie this crazy game at 4-4 and force overtime.
Le pant, le pant, le pant.
It didn't take long to complete the stomach punch, as former Ranger Brian Boyle scored for the Lightning just 2:48 into overtime to give Tampa Game 3 and a 2-1 series lead.