Game 74: Montreal Canadiens @ Tampa Bay Lightning
Start time: 7:00 PM EDT / 4:00 PM PDT
In the Canadiens region: TSN2 (English), RDS (French)
In the Lightning region: The Spot
Streaming: ESPN+, RDS, TSN+
The Tampa Bay Lightning were in a serious slump when the NHL schedule resumed after the Olympics, going 3-7-0 in the next 10 games, and the three wins were versus a shockingly bad Toronto Maple Leafs team which has since fired its GM, and the free-falling Detroit Red Wings. With two of those losses coming in four-point games versus the Buffalo Sabres, the comfortable lead they once held in the division turned into a deficit of four points to the new top seed in the Atlantic.
Given the way almost every team has been winning in the Eastern Conference, even the once-secure Lightning were no longer safe from tumbling out of the picture — just ask the Detroit Red Wings who led the conference on January 1 and now rank fourth in the wild-card race. Tampa Bay has since recovered, using a rare two-day break to get their game back together and have a 6-0-2 mark over the last two weeks to reclaim their position.
The Montreal Canadiens have followed that run closely, winning their last five games to sit four points back of both the Lightning and Sabres. The Habs have a chance to make up that gap on their own, with tonight featuring the first of two head-to-head battles with Tampa Bay before the end of the season.
Tale of the Tape
| Canadiens | Statistics | Lightning |
|---|---|---|
| 42-21-10 | Record | 46-21-6 |
| 48.7% (23rd) | Expected-goal share | 54.3% (4th) |
| 3.51 (3rd) | Goals per game | 3.60 (2nd) |
| 3.12 (24th) | Goals against per game | 2.75 (3rd) |
| 24.5% (5th) | PP% | 22.5% (11th) |
| 76.5% (26th) | PK% | 82.3% (3rd) |
| 0-1-1 | Head-to-Head Record | 2-0-0 |
| Cole Caufield (46) | Most goals | Nikita Kucherov (40) |
| Nick Suzuki (65) | Most assists | Nikita Kucherov (81) |
| Nick Suzuki (91) | Most points | Nikita Kucherov (121) |
The Canadiens didn’t come close to gaining a point in the first meeting of the year, a 6-1 loss, giving up three goals on 14 shots in the opening period and being unable to make up any ground afterward. Unfortunately for Montreal, getting outplayed in the opening 20 minutes has become a trend during the current winning streak, relying on the netminders to bail them out of poor starts. Like the Carolina Hurricanes and Columbus Blue Jackets, the Lightning are another strong possession team that has the ability to keep the puck out of Montreal’s grasp.
A better start will be required tonight, like they had in the second meeting in Tampa to get a point from a shootout loss. Even that game saw the Lightning take advantage of a drop from Montreal to score three goals in the second period, needing a four-goal outburst from the Canadiens in the final 20 minutes.
A big question is how Tampa Bay will approach what could be an opening-round matchup. On several occasions since Christmas they’ve gone into games versus teams they wanted to prove themselves against — the Florida Panthers twice and the Sabres on March 8 — and decided that physicality was the way to do so. The team that ranks second in the league in goals and third in goals against also leads the NHL in penalty minutes this season with 1048, has been assessed 44 major penalties (10 more than the Boston Bruins), and has twice as many game misconducts as the next team on the list, with six, the latest coming on Saturday when Erik Cernak pushed an official after getting called for boarding.
On all three of those occasions the Lightning ended up being the most penalized of the two teams, so if that is indeed the way they choose to play, the Canadiens’ special teams will need to be sharp. The power play has remained consistent (if frustrating at times), but during this winning streak they’re only killing off two of every three penalties they take, accounting for four of the 10 goals against. So far Jakub Dobeš has been doing exceptional work to keep opponents off the board at five-on-five, but the skaters will need to figure out their one-on-one defensive-zone play to give their goaltender less of a workout and themselves the best chance to beat a team among the best in all aspects of the game.
