Lightning at Canadiens
The Tampa Bay Lightning look to extend their winning streak to four games when they visit the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday in a battle of the top teams in the Atlantic Division. The Lightning outscored Montreal 11-3 in two victories this season, getting eight pucks past Vezina Trophy candidate Carey Price, after being swept by the Canadiens in the playoffs last April. Montreal comes home after a 1-2-1 road trip and leads Tampa Bay by two points with a game in hand.
Price is 10-2-1 in his last 13 decisions and leads the league with 37 victories, needing one to match his career-best in 2010-11. He will likely face Ben Bishop, who has won five of his last six outings overall and stands 7-1-2 with a 1.50 goals-against average and .941 save percentage lifetime against the Canadiens. Lightning captain Steven Stamkos notched a hat trick in the first meeting this season and is third in the league with 36 goals.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, Sun Sports (Tampa Bay), RDS and SNET (Montreal)
ABOUT THE LIGHTNING (41-20-6): Stamkos has posted nine goals and 15 points over the last 15 games, playing primarily with Ryan Callahan and Alex Killorn on his wings to give the Lightning two very productive forward lines. Tyler Johnson, who leads the team with 64 points, continues to prosper with Ondrej Palat and Nikita Kucherov on a skillful trio that has combined for 64 goals. Defenseman Victor Hedman has picked up his play in the offensive end with seven points in his last seven contests.
ABOUT THE CANADIENS (42-18-6): The Canadiens are the lowest-scoring team among the 16 currently in playoff position at 2.59 goals per game and managed only six on their four-game trip. Max Pacioretty leads the way with 31 goals while Tomas Plekanec, Alex Galchenyuk and Brendan Gallagher (two in the last two games) have each notched 19. While Price also leads the league in goals-against average (1.89) and save percentage (.936), he gets ample support from a defense led by P.K. Subban.
OVERTIME
1. Montreal D Alexei Emelin (shoulder) is expected to miss his 10th straight game, but is reportedly closing in on a return to lineup.
2. Tampa Bay has converted 8-of-26 power-play chances over the last seven games and is 4-of-11 against Montreal with the man advantage this season.
3. Pacioretty leads the league with a plus-37 rating while Kucherov is second (plus-33) and Johnson third (plus-31).