Canadiens hope to catch Lightning in a bottle

Here are five things you should know about the Montreal Canadiens vs. Tampa Bay Lightning game on Thursday:

Tough road ahead

After losing 4-1 to San Jose Tuesday, Canadiens coach Claude Julien said the schedule doesn’t get any easier going forward. This game is a prime example. The Lightning have the best record in the NHL and are on pace to rack up more than 120 points. The Canadiens have lost five games in a row and are a staggering 24 points behind Tampa Bay. More importantly, they are eight points out of the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference, which is currently held by the Carolina Hurricanes.

Offence missing in action

The Canadiens have scored only four goals in their five-game losing streak and rank 27 th in the NHL with an average of 2.5 goals a game. Perennial 30-goal scorer Max Pacioretty has only one goal in his last 22 games. He’s not alone. Jonathan Drouin has only one point in his last 10 games; Tomas Plekanec has one goal since Nov. 4; Paul Byron has one goal in his last 16 games and Artturi Lehkonen has gone 12 games without a goal. Alex Galchenyuk leads the team with 22 points and he ranks 146th in the NHL.

Drouin vs. Sergachev

The comparison is a bit unfair because they play different roles on very different teams, but it’s safe to say that Mikhail Sergachev has lived up to, or perhaps exceeded, expectations in Tampa while Drouin is still adapting to a new role in Montreal. Sergachev has eight goals (three more than Drouin) and 26 points (eight more than Drouin) and he has 10 power play points, which is more than any Canadien. Sergachev is 12th in scoring among NHL defencemen and is tied for sixth in the rookie scoring race.

Nobody’s perfect

The Lightning have the No. 1 offence with 3.69 goals a game and the No. 2 defence, allowing only 2.36 goals a game. And with players like Nikita Kucherov, Steven Stamkos and defenceman Victor Hedman, Tampa Bay’s power play is No. 2 with a success rate of 25.2 per cent. Kucherov leads the NHL scoring race with 56 points and is No. 2 in goals with 25, while Stamkos is tied for third in points with 49.

Vasilevskiy joins the elite

Goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 31 shots in the Lightning’s 3-1 win over Montreal in Tampa on Dec. 28. The 23-year-old Russian pushed Ben Bishop out of the No. 1 goaltending job in Tampa last season and he has emerged as the top candidate for the Vezina Trophy this season. He ranks second in the league behind St. Louis journeyman Carter Hutton with a goals-against average of 1.95 and a .937 save percentage. Vasilevskiy also leads the league in wins with 26 and shutouts with six.