The Tampa Bay Lightning returned home on Sunday for the second half of their back-to-back after defeating the Florida Panthers the previous night. This time around, they were faced with an important divisional game as they took on the Montreal Canadiens in a game that can have long-term effects on the standings.
Maxim Groshev made his NHL debut for the Lightning, while the Bolts also got Brandon Hagel back in the lineup after he was activated off of the injured reserve ahead of the game. Jonas Johansson got the nod between the pipes as Jon Cooper gave Vasilevskiy the night off following his performance the previous night.
At the other end of the rink, Montreal’s rookie netminder, Jacob Fowler, was getting the start in his home state.
Montreal got the majority of the offensive zone time early in this one. That offensive pressure would eventually reward them with a power play, as Max Crozier was called for holding on Josh Anderson roughly four minutes into the game. The Lightning killed off their first penalty of the night with little cause for concern.
With 12 and a half minutes remaining in the first period, the Lightning finally got their first shots of the night, as it had been all Montreal in that regard up to that point. With just under eight minutes left in the first, the penalty kill got called to action once again as Nick Paul went to the penalty box for delay of game.
Johansson was forced to make two quick saves early in the penalty kill, but the Lightning wouldn’t allow more quality scoring chances before they killed off the penalty. Scott Sabourin and Arber Xhekaj dropped the gloves late in the first period. Sabourin left the game after being knocked down by Xhekaj, and did not return. Then, Charlie-Edouard D’Astous was called for holding with just under two minutes remaining in the period.
The Lightning killed off the penalty with just seconds remaining at the start of the second period. Nikita Kucherov scored two and a half minutes into the frame, as he timed his rush perfectly to create a breakaway, making it 1-0 for Tampa Bay.
Alexandre Texier was called for hooking shortly after, giving Tampa Bay their first power play opportunity of the night. The Lightning’s power play woes continued though, as the Canadiens killed it off. The Lightning were applying considerably more offensive zone pressure as the game progressed though.
After Fowler made a great save on a Lightning rush opportunity, Brayden Point got the bound and found Kucherov in front of the net who scored his second of the night, making it 2-0 for Tampa Bay. On the ensuing faceoff, Kucherov was sent to the box for slashing.
As Kucherov left the penalty box, he found Brandon Hagel in quite a bit of space for a breakaway, but Fowler made the save. Moments later, Oliver Bjorkstrand fired a shot and Paul put away the rebound to make it 3-0. Groshev was awarded the secondary assist on the goal, marking his first career point in the NHL.
A collision between Hagel and Mike Matheson caused a massive scrum following an icing call, but nothing came of it. The Lightning would maintain their lead through the end of the period, as it was 3-0 heading into the second intermission.
Montreal got themselves on the board as Juraj Slafkovsky found Ivan Demidov in front of the net, Demidov beat Johansson and made it 3-1 just over a minute into the third period.
It didn’t take long for the Lightning to restore their three-goal lead though, as less than a minute later Pontus Holmberg scored in his third straight game with a deflection, making it 4-1.
Montreal added a second goal near the halfway mark of the final frame, as this time it was Slafkovsky who was able to beat Johansson, reducing the Lightning’s lead back to just two goals.
That lead would be cut in half just a few minutes later, as Noah Dobson fired a shot from the top of the faceoff circle that beat Johansson and made it a 4-3 hockey game. Clearly fatigue was kicking in for the Lightning in the third period, as after Dobson’s goal, the Canadiens maintained solid offensive pressure for a considerable amount of time which forced Johansson to make several big saves.
Montreal’s head coach, Martin St. Louis, pulled their goalie with 1:21 remaining in regulation and took a timeout five seconds later. Kucherov had two chances at the empty net that were denied by defensemen, and that would end up being crucial as Montreal tied it up with just 3.8 seconds remaining. In a mad scramble, the puck ended up on the stick of Slafkovsky who made it 4-4.
Although there were a few chances for both teams in overtime, nobody was able to find the back of the net and the game went to a shootout.
Gave Goncalves and Brayden Point scored in each of the first two rounds, meanwhile Montreal missed their first two shots. As a result, Tampa Bay won 5-4.