Habs have work cut out against offence- minded Tampa Bay
CANADIENS VS. LIGHTNING Monday at the Bell Centre, 7: 30 p. m., Sportsnet, RDS, TSN- 690 Radio.
One- si ded r i val r y: The Canadiens lead the Atlantic Division with a three- point edge over the Lightning, but Tampa Bay has dominated the season series. The Lightning has a 4- 0 record against the Canadiens and has outscored Montreal 16- 5. The one bright spot for the home side is they kept it close in their last meeting at the Bell Centre with Tampa posting a 1- 0 win on March 10. Montreal swept Tampa in the playoffs last spring, but the Lightning was missing goaltender Ben Bishop, who has a 9- 1- 2 lifetime record against Montreal with a 1.42 goalsagainst average.
What have you done lately?: The Lightning might have been guilty of looking ahead when they ventured into Detroit on Saturday afternoon and were shut out by the Red Wings 4- 0. It was the only time the Lightning has been shut out this season and they lead the NHL in offence with an average of 3.18 goals a game. Tampa, which is on a two- game losing streak, has not lost three consecutive games this season. The Canadiens snapped a two- game losing streak with a 3- 2 overtime win over Florida on Saturday. That win allowed the Canadiens to clinch a playoff spot with six games remaining. Last season, there had five games remaining
when they locked up a post- season berth.
Powering up: Max Pacioretty scored his team- leading 36th goal on a power play in overtime to give the Canadiens the win over a stubborn Florida team. The power play went 2- for- 4, while the other Montreal goal came shortly after a power play expired. That’s good news for a power play that ranks 25th in the NHL with a success rate of 16.1 per cent, Alex Galchenyuk ended an 11- game goal drought as he became the fourth Canadien to reach the 20- goal mark this season.
The other guys: Steven Stamkos leads the Tampa offence with 40 goals, including five against the Canadiens. Nikita Kucherov has 27 goals and Tyler Johnson has 26 and is tied with Stamkos for the points lead with 67. It’s homecoming time for Alex Killorn, Mark Barberio and Jonathan Drouin, who are all products of the Lac St- Louis orga- nization on the West Island.
Injury update: Defenceman Tom Gilbert was wearing a full cage when he participated in an optional workout in Brossard on Sunday. Gilbert said he suffered a broken jaw when he was struck by a puck on March 21. He hasn’t been cleared for contact, but hopes to return to action in the next week. The Lightning came out of the Detroit game with two injuries. Cedric Paquette has a leg injury and Jason Garrison has an upper- body ailment. Both players are listed as day- to- day. Defenceman Braydon Coburn is on the injured reserve list with a lower- body injury while Mattias Ohlund and Radko Gudas are long- term casualties with knee injuries.