Montreal needs a win, which will be no easy task with first-place Tampa Bay in town today, says

Pat Hickey.

1. Tough road ahead

After losing 4-1 to San Jose on Tuesday, Canadiens coach Claude Julien said the schedule doesn’t get any easier. 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.

2. Lack of offence

The Canadiens scored only four goals in their five-game losing streak and rank 27th in the NHL with an average of 2.5 goals a game. Perennial 30-goal scorer Max Pacioretty has gone 13 games without a goal; Jonathan Drouin has one assist in his last 10 games; Tomas Plekanec has one goal since Nov. 4; Paul Byron has one goal in 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.

3. Drouin vs. Sergachev

The comparison is a bit unfair because they play different roles on different teams, but it’s safe to say Mikhail Sergachev has lived up to, or 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 10 power-play points, which is more than any Canadien.

4. 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.

5. Vasilevskiy joins elite

Goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy, a 23-year-old Russian, pushed Ben Bishop out of the No. 1 goaltending job in Tampa last season and has emerged as the top candidate for the Vezina Trophy. He ranks second in the league behind St. Louis journeyman Carter Hutton with a goalsagainst average of 1.95 and a .937 save percentage. Vasilevskiy also leads the league in wins with 26 and shutouts with six.