Lightning at Canadiens
The Montreal Canadiens continue to gain confidence with their strong start and can post consecutive wins over last season’s Eastern Conference finalists when they host the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday night. The Canadiens, who missed the postseason in 2017-18, boast points in seven of the last nine games (6-2-1) after rallying for a 6-4 victory over reigning Stanley Cup champion Washington on Thursday.
“That was a huge win,” Montreal center Max Domi, who leads the team with 12 points, told reporters. “. … We came out of the gates flying, we let off the gas pedal a little bit. That’s a veteran team that took full advantage of us kind of letting back a little bit, so to rally back as a group showed a lot of character.” The Canadiens are one point behind Tampa Bay for the top spot in the East, but the Lightning have gained at least a point in five straight meetings (4-0-1) between the Atlantic Division rivals. Tampa Bay went 3-1-1 on its first road trip of the season, but dropped a 4-1 decision to Nashville at home Thursday despite putting up 43 shots, and will likely be without reigning Norris Trophy winner Victor Hedman (upper body) for the fourth straight game. “(Nashville) made us pay for the looks that we gave them and the breakdowns we had,” Lightning defenseman Ryan McDonagh said, after the setback. “We obviously want to finish a little better with the looks we had.”
TV: 7 p.m. ET, TVA, FS Sun (Tampa Bay), CITY, Sportsnet360 (Montreal)
ABOUT THE LIGHTNING (8-3-1): With Hedman out, defenseman Slater Koekkoek has gotten a chance to play after sitting out the first nine contests of the season and recorded his first goal - and point - Thursday. Brayden Point was blanked by Nashville after his career-best five-point effort Tuesday, but leads the team with 14 while forwards Yanni Gourde and Nikita Kucherov have contributed 12 apiece. Tampa Bay saw its six-game streak with a power play goal end Thursday, but is eighth in the league at 27.9 percent, and the Lightning lead the NHL in penalty killing (93.3 percent).
ABOUT THE CANADIENS (7-3-2): Rookie center Jesperi Kotkaniemi scored his first two goals in the NHL on Thursday and the 18-year-old boasts six points, 21 shots and a plus-1 rating through 12 games. “He’s never looked out of place,” Montreal coach Claude Julien told reporters. “He’s had games that have been better than others. We have to have patience, but I like the way he’s playing. And he’s doing a good job on the power play, where he finds seams not too many players can see.” Brendan Gallagher notched four goals in the last three games and tops the team with nine.
OVERTIME
1. Gourde, who had 25 goals last season, signed a six-year extension worth a reported $31 million Friday.
2. Montreal G Carey Price is 4-1-1 in his last six games and is 13-13-6 lifetime against the Lightning.
3. Tampa Bay LW Ondrej Palat (lower body), who has five assists in nine contests, could miss his fourth consecutive game.