The Tampa Bay Lightning continued their road trip with the second half of a back-to-back, this time against the Montreal Canadiens.
Their 2-0 loss against the Toronto Maple Leafs was Tampa Bay’s second straight shutout defeat, as a result, getting offense needed to be their main priority in the Centre Bell.
Head coach Jon Cooper opted to start Jonas Johansson for the second straight night with Andrei Vasilevskiy on the injured reserve rather than starting Brandon Halverson.
It was a chippy affair right out of the gate, as Zemgus Girgensons and Brendan Gallagher had a bit of back-and-forth on the opening faceoff. Johansson had a busy start to the night, making five saves in the first two and a half minutes. Despite the Canadiens’ constant pressure, Brayden Point got a breakaway to break the shutout streak, giving the Lightning a 1-0 lead. Jake Guentzel recorded an assist on Point’s goal, which was Guentzel’s 600th career point.
Lightning's Jake Guentzel Registers 600th Career Point
During the Tampa Bay Lightning’s visit to the Centre Bell to face the Montreal Canadiens, forward Jake Guentzel hit a major career milestone.
Gallagher was in the middle of a scrum once again, when the veteran threw a hit on Max Crozier, and Crozier responded. Both were given a minor penalty for roughing, while Pontus Holmberg already had a delayed penalty for interference on Jake Evans, which gave the Canadiens their first power play of the evening.
The Lightning killed off the penalty with minimal pressure. Then, Holmberg picked up a loose puck in the neutral zone as he came out of the penalty box, creating a breakaway. Holmberg was able to beat the Montreal goaltender, Jakub Dobes, with a shot that was fairly similar to Point’s goal, making it 2-0 for Tampa Bay less than halfway through the first period.
Girgensons nearly made it 3-0, but was denied by Dobes. Holmberg picked up the rebound with a wide-open net, but was thwarted by the goal post. Kucherov would be the one to add Tampa Bay’s third goal with a one-timer late in the first period. Dobes was trying to reset following a scramble in front of the Montreal net, leaving him no chance to stop Kucherov’s shot.
At the very end of the first period, Charle-Edouard D’Astous would be called for cross-checking Cole Caufield, giving Montreal a power play to start the second period.
Montreal head coach Martin St. Louis made a goaltending change for the second period, as Samuel Montembeault took over for Dobes, who surrendered three goals in the first period.
Quebec native D’Astous would make it 4-0 as he beat Montembeault with Tampa Bay’s first shot of the period, just under three minutes into the middle frame.
Kucherov gave Montreal their third power play opportunity of the night when he was called for tripping Noah Dobson roughly five minutes into the second period. The Lightning’s perfect penalty kill continued, as they again stifled Montreal’s dangerous power play. At 12:33 in the second period, the Bolts finally got their first opportunity with a man advantage, as Arber Xhekaj was called for interference on Brandon Hagel. Montreal’s penalty kill remained strong, killing off the penalty.
Montreal nearly broke up Johansson’s shutout late in the period, as the Lightning goaltender went to play the puck behind the net, but got stranded as the puck was thrown in front of the goal. A diving Darren Raddysh knocked the puck off of the Canadien in front’s stick, preventing a goal.
D’Astous was penalized for the second time with just under two minutes remaining in the second period after he tripped Ivan Demidov. The Lightning penalty kill would then falter for the first time of the night, as Oliver Kapanen was able to beat Johansson, making it 4-1.
Victor Hedman didn’t take a single shift in the second period, which was certainly a cause for concern considering he had just returned from injury. It also meant that the Lightning were running with just five defensemen for the remainder of the night.
Just 1:24 into the third period, Raddysh barely beat Montembeault with a shot on the rush to make it 5-1. The play was reviewed to ensure the puck fully crossed the goal line, and was ultimately confirmed as a goal.
J.J. Moser and Zachary Bolduc had a bit of a skirmish just before the midway point of the final period, but no penalties were called, at least not until the ensuing faceoff. On the faceoff, Bolduc took down Curtis Douglas. The Canadiens forward was penalized for tripping, handing the Lightning another power play opportunity, but more importantly, allowing Tampa Bay to burn two minutes off of the game clock.
Frustration had clearly set in for Montreal at this point, as they took another penalty at 8:37 in the third period. This time, it was Xhekaj who was called for high-sticking. Raddysh wasted no time getting his second goal of the night, making it 6-1 just four seconds into the man advantage.
Scott Sabourin dropped his gloves with Josh Anderson with less than five minutes remaining in the game, ending the night for both players.
When all was said and done, the Lightning walked away with the win in dominant fashion.
The Lightning will be back in action on Thursday, as they'll play game three of their four game road trip at the Prudential Center against the New Jersey Devils.
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