Montreal's Josh Anderson embraces teammate Cole Caufield (22) after scoring the winning goal during overtime of Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Finals. Tampba Bay takes a 3-1 series lead into Game 5 Wednesday night.

TAMPA, Fla. – It was no coincidence 5-foot-9 Montreal forward Brendan Gallagher kept going after 6-foot-6 Tampa Bay defenseman Victor Hedman after the first period in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final, shoving him and moving linesmen out of the way to continue the altercation.

The Canadiens still look overmatched trailing the Lightning 3-1, but they finally showed some fire in staving off elimination and forcing a Game 5.

“It’s part of our game,” coach Dominique Ducharme said Tuesday. “Maybe we took that to another level ... but if you watch us play all year, and even more in the playoff, it’s been part of our game.”

The Lightning get their next chance Wednesday night to close out the feisty Canadiens and hoist the Stanley Cup for the second time in 10 months. The NHL and the teams are watching the path of a tropical storm that has hurricane potential bearing down on Florida’s west coast.

“We will continue to monitor and make a call when we have to,” NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly told The Associated Press in an email. “We do have an amount of flexibility.”

After losing in overtime to blow the first chance to win, Tampa Bay is determined to finish the job in the next opportunity.

“It’s hard enough just to beat a team, let alone to take them out in four, and we’re in the Stanley Cup Final,” coach Jon Cooper said. “It’s two good hockey teams playing each other, and the series was meant to go more than four games.”

The Canadiens made sure of that thanks to Josh Anderson’s OT winner Monday night. Even if they weren’t the better team, they were certainly the aggressors.

That meant hammering away on Lightning stars Nikita Kucherov and Brayden Point and roughing it up once play stopped. That’s on brand for Montreal and a key to winning this deep in the playoffs.

“We’ve talked about wearing teams down,” veteran winger Corey Perry said. “Every night you have to continue to do the small, little things: Keep putting the puck in deep, banging the body. It takes a toll on guys.”

It’s a toll the Lightning cannot afford to pay even with a clear advantage in the series. Several players are banged up, and it’s in their best interest to try to wrap this series before the attrition piles up.