Canadiens at Lightning
The well-rested Montreal Canadiens continue their six-game road trip against the red-hot Tampa Bay Lightning in an Atlantic Division showdown on Saturday. The Canadiens broke out of a scoring slump with a 4-3 overtime victory at Nashville in their last game on Dec. 21 after recording only seven goals in their previous six contests. The Lightning, who are 14-3-1 at home, look to extend their overall winning streak to six games as captain Martin St. Louis boasts points in five straight.
The Lightning notched a 2-1 shootout victory at Montreal on Nov. 12 in their first game after Steven Stamkos broke his right leg and has gone 11-6-3 overall without their star center. The game likely will feature two of the league’s top goalies in the Lightning’s Ben Bishop (1.93 goals-against average, .935 save percentage) and Montreal’s Carey Price (2.10, .932). Bishop is 6-0-1 in his previous seven contests while Price in 10-3-0 in his last 13.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, CBC, RDS (Montreal), Sun Sports (Tampa Bay)
ABOUT THE CANADIENS (22-13-3): Montreal is eight points shy of where it stood last season at this point, and the biggest difference is on offense. Defenseman P.K. Subban’s 27 points lead a Canadiens team ranked 22nd in scoring (2.47 goals) through Thursday after finishing the 2012-13 campaign fourth (3.04). Centers Tomas Plekanec (23 points) and Alex Galchenyuk (22) are the top-scoring forwards while Montreal’s defense, led by Subban and Andrei Markov, is third in the league in goals against (2.13).
ABOUT THE LIGHTNING (23-11-3): Defensemen Sami Salo and Eric Brewer did not practice Friday due to injuries and their status is uncertain, but Tampa Bay’s top three of Victor Hedman, Matt Carle and Radko Gudas continue to shine. Hedman leads the blue-liners in goals and points (seven, 20) while Carle paces the team in ice time (22:12) and blocks (76) and Gudas in hits (130). Left wing Alex Killorn snapped out of eight-game point drought with three goals, two assists and a plus-4 rating over his last five games.
OVERTIME
1. St. Louis was tied for third in the league in goals at home (12) and has 21 points in 18 games at Tampa Bay through Thursday.
2. Price, who has played in 340 career games, needs 23 more minutes on the ice to reach 20,000 in his career.
3. Tampa Bay veteran LW Ryan Malone, out since Nov. 22 with a foot injury, practiced Friday and is close to returning.