CHICAGO -- Tampa Bay Lightning coach Jon Cooper decided upon his starting goaltender for Game 3 of the Stanley Cup finals the moment he looked into Ben Bishop's eyes.

"That kid said, 'Give me the net,'" Cooper said, "and I knew we were going to be OK."

Cooper's pregame hunch was correct. Bishop stopped 36 of 38 shots two days after a mystery ailment forced him off the ice, and the Lightning rallied for a 3-2 win against the Chicago Blackhawks on Monday night.

The Lightning seized a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series. Game 4 is scheduled for Wednesday in Chicago.

Center Cedric Paquette scored the tiebreaking goal on a perfect feed from defenseman Victor Hedman with 3:11 remaining in the third period. Right winger Ryan Callahan and left winger Ondrej Palat also scored for Tampa Bay, which fell behind 2-1 before scoring back-to-back goals in the third period.

By then, few questions remained about the identity of Tampa Bay's starting goaltender going forward. Bishop showed limited mobility at times Monday, but he stood tall to deny quality chances from left winger Brandon Saad, center Andrew Shaw and others.

Bishop acknowledged playing through pain, although he would not reveal the cause of his discomfort. He stayed down on the ice after Saad crashed into him in the third period, but after a few moments, he climbed to his skates and remained in the game.

"It's going to take a lot to not play in a Stanley Cup final game, personally," Bishop said.

Center Brad Richards and Saad scored for Chicago.

Blackhawks goaltender Corey Crawford turned aside 29 of 32 shots in the loss.

"Two games we had the lead, but short-lived both times," Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said. "Two tough losses in a row."

Callahan opened the scoring on a slap shot from the right circle with 14:51 remaining in the first. The goal was set up by a hard pass from Hedman, who recognized a Chicago line change and fired the puck about 100 feet from behind Tampa Bay's net to Callahan's stick in the offensive zone.

Cooper praised Hedman for his contributions on both ends of the ice. In more than 26 minutes of ice time, Hedman finished with two assists, four shots on goal, three hits and five blocked shots.

"This is clearly his coming-out party," Cooper said. "He sets that one up (to Callahan) and then makes a big-time play on the winner. He was a monster out there tonight."

Chicago evened the score at 1-1 on a power-play goal by Richards with 5:38 to go in the first. Center Andrew Shaw set a screen in front of the crease, and Richards' slap shot from the blue line deflected off Bishop's glove and into the net.

Tampa Bay had a five-on-three power play for 1:26 late in the second period after penalties to Blackhawks left wingers Bryan Bickell and Saad. Chicago killed both penalties with several clearances and key saves by Crawford.

The Blackhawks took a 2-1 lead on a one-timer by Saad with 15:46 remaining in the third period. Right winger Marian Hossa slid a pass to Saad, who fired a rising shot from the slot that beat Bishop glove-side.

Thirteen seconds later, Tampa Bay pulled even at 2-2 on a goal by Palat. Right winger Nikita Kucherov drove to the net, and Palat punched in a loose puck for his eighth goal of the playoffs.

Paquette made it 3-2 when he won a faceoff in the defensive zone and raced down the ice on a three-on-two break.

"I just went to the net, (and Hedman) gave it to me," Paquette said. "I waited until the goalie couldn't see the puck. I think I had the opening."

Blackhawks defenseman Duncan Keith said he expected a strong response in Game 4.

"I think we have a lot of confidence in our team," Keith said. "Obviously, we don't like being down, but we've been down many times before."

NOTES: Lightning G Ben Bishop started in net after