Lightning at Canadiens
THE STORY: In hockey-mad Eastern Canada, a last-place Montreal Canadiens team with a sub-.500 home record just won’t do. The Canadiens made an effort to make it up to the home fans on Wednesday, when Lars Eller scored four goals in a 7-3 thrashing of the Winnipeg Jets. Eller, who had never recorded more than two points in a game previously, added an assist in a breakout night for the offense. Montreal has won just two of its last nine games, however, and sits in last place in the Northeast Division, out of the top eight in the Eastern Conference. Joining the Canadiens toward the bottom of the standings are the Tampa Bay Lightning, who visit the Bell Centre on Saturday. The Lightning have as much offensive talent as any team in the league with Steven Stamkos, Vincent Lecavalier and Martin St. Louis. The problem is at the other side of the ice, where they allow a league-worst average of 3.4 goals.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, SUN (Tampa Bay), RDS, CBC (Canada)
ABOUT THE LIGHTNING (17-19-3): Tampa Bay looked as though it had turned a corner at the end of December, recording three straight wins while allowing a total of six goals. That defense has abandoned the Lightning in the new year. They were crushed 7-3 at Toronto on Tuesday and fell 4-1 at Ottawa on Thursday. The bright spot continues to be Stamkos, who scored his league-leading 28th goal on Thursday and has tallied in five straight games.
ABOUT THE CANADIENS (15-18-7): For one night at least, Canadiens fans stopped worrying about the coach’s lack of French speaking and were able to cheer the on-ice product. Eller, 22, doubled his goal total with Wednesday’s performance and clicked with a line that included Travis Moen and Andrei Kostitsyn. New coach Randy Cunneyworth gave center Erik Cole double shifts and over 27 minutes of ice time in the contest. Cole responded with a pair of assists.
OVERTIME:
1. Tampa Bay took the first meeting, 4-3, on Dec. 29 and has won three of the last five in the series.
2. Stamkos has 11 points - six goals - in 13 career games against Montreal.
3. Eller has not recorded a point in five career games against the Lightning.