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    Rick Stephens
    Rick Stephens
    Mar 3, 2024, 04:47

    Montreal Canadiens jumped out to a two goal lead but lost in a shootout to the Tampa Bay Lightning.

    Montreal Canadiens jumped out to a two goal lead but lost in a shootout to the Tampa Bay Lightning.

    GAME RECAP | Montreal Canadiens 3 vs Tampa Bay Lightning 4 | FINAL/SO

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    Canadiens Lineup

    Forwards

    22 Cole Caufield - 14 Nick Suzuki - 20 Juraj Slafkovsky
    89 Joshua Roy - 15 Alex Newhook - 40 Joel Armia
    11 Brendan Gallagher - 71 Jake Evans - 17 Josh Anderson
    70 Tanner Pearson - 36 Colin White - 56 Jesse Ylonen

    Defensemen
    8 Mike Matheson - 21 Kaiden Guhle
    72 Arber Xhekaj - 58 David Savard
    54 Jordan Harris - 26 Johnathan Kovacevic

    Goaltenders

    Starter: 30 Cayden Primeau
    Alternate: 34 Jake Allen

    Out of the lineup

    Scratches: Michael Pezzetta, Sam Montembeault
    Injuries: Carey Price (knee), Chris Wideman (back), Kirby Dach (knee), Christian Dvorak (upper body), Rafael Harvey-Pinard (lower body), Jayden Struble (lower body)

    Game Report

    The Canadiens played well pushing the Tampa Bay Lightning beyond regulation time. It was the second game in a row that Montreal took the opposition to a shootout. But  like in Sunrise, the Canadiens could not finish.

    In the sixth round of shootout, Victor Hedman beat Primeau for the game-deciding goal. Montreal has won just once in their past eight games.

    The Canadiens got off to a great start, with goals from Joel Armia and Jake Evans. Kaiden Guhle and Brendan Gallagher played the supporting roles. Montreal owned a 2-0 lead heading to the first intermission.

    As was the case on Thursday night, the opposition dominated the second period. Tampa Bay outshot Montreal 13-6 getting goals from Braden Point and Anthony Cirelli. Point extended his point streak to nine games.

    Josh Anderson scored his first goal in 16 games, deflecting a third period shot by Cole Caufield to put Montreal up 3-2. The Canadiens power play gave up a league-leading eleventh shorthanded goal. Tyler Motte tied the game midway through the third period to set up overtime.

    Game Statistics

    Canadiens (23-28-10)
    Shots: 31
    Face-off %: 49.1
    Power play: 0/2
    Penalty minutes: 9
    Hits: 24
    Blocks: 15

    Lightning (33-24-6)
    Shots: 33
    Face-off %: 50.9
    Power play: 0/2
    Penalty minutes: 9
    Hits: 23
    Blocks: 16

    Scoring Summary

    Canadiens Scorers
    1st period: Armia (11), Evans (5)
    2nd period: --
    3rd period: Anderson (8)
    OT: --
    SO: --

    Lightning Scorers
    1st period: --
    2nd period: Point (32), Cirelli (13)
    3rd period: Motte (6)-SHG
    OT: --
    SO: Game deciding goal - Hedman

    Goaltenders
    MTL: Primeau (OTL) 5-6-2
    TBL: Vasilevskiy (W) 21-15-1

    Canadiens Player of the Game

    Brendan Gallagher - In a feisty game Gallagher played his usual wrecking ball self. He earned an assist on Jake Evan's goal.

    Video Highlights

    [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4isCveIRl4[/embed]

    Post-game Quotes

    Martin St. Louis

    "We played well enough to win but we just couldn't make it happen. I wouldn't say it's frustrating."

    Cole Caufield

    "We were strong in the first period, but we knew the Lightning were going to get their fair share of scoring chances. At the moment we are playing well, in general. It's just about finishing games better."

    Up Next

    The Canadiens have two games left on their four-game road trip, Tuesday night in Nashville and Thursday night in Raleigh.

    Be sure to bookmark THN.com/Montreal for year-round coverage of the Montreal Canadiens, Laval Rocket, and Habs prospects playing in leagues around the world.

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