CHICAGO — Victor Hedman is throwing a party at the Stanley Cup Final, and the Tampa Bay Lightning are having a great time so far.

Hedman had two assists while hounding Chicago’s elite group of forwards, and the Lightning beat the Blackhawks 3-2 on Monday night to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series.

“To be able to contribute and see how much this means to Tampa is my No. 1 priority,” Hedman said. “Like I said all playoffs, I want to be a difference-maker on the ice on both ends, and it doesn’t matter what type of game it is and what game it is. I always want to try to get better.”

Ryan Callahan, Ondrej Palat and Cedric Paquette scored in Tampa Bay’s second straight win, and Ben Bishop made 36 saves in a gutsy performance after he was questionable coming into the night. Game 4 is Wednesday night in Chicago.

Brad Richards and Brandon Saad scored for the Blackhawks and Corey Crawford finished with 29 stops. Marian Hossa had two assists after he missed a golden opportunity in the first period.

“Just a couple of little bad habits that ended up hurting us,” captain Jonathan Toews said. “We’re all responsible for that.”