Canadiens at Lightning
The Tampa Bay Lightning swept all five games in the regular season and knocked the Carey Price-led Montreal Canadiens out in the second round of the playoffs in 2014-15. The Lightning look to continue that dominance when they host their reeling Atlantic Division rivals Monday night without the Vezina and Hart Trophy winner in net.
Tampa Bay has won seven consecutive regular-season games against the Canadiens and beat Price four of six times in the postseason en route to the Stanley Cup final. The Lightning are on the upswing in December with seven wins in 11 games while Montreal is plummeting with six consecutive losses and a 1-10-0 mark over the last 11 contests as Price recovers from a leg injury that is expected to keep him out until mid-January. The Canadiens are 0-4-0 midway through an eight-game road trip after a 3-1 loss at Washington on Saturday. Tampa Bay captain Steven Stamkos will try to continue Montreal’s misery after scoring five goals in the last four games.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, Sportsnet, RDS (Montreal), FSN Sun (Tampa Bay)
ABOUT THE CANADIENS (20-14-3): While Mike Condon (.903 save percentage) and Dustin Tokarski (.878) have struggled at times, Montreal's offense has been even colder with just six goals in the last six games. “We’re looking, offensively, way too much for the perfect play with no results,” Canadiens coach Michel Therrien told reporters. “. … We need to make sure to put our nose in the kitchen and play the price a little bit more.” Tomas Plekanec has gone 21 games without a goal and captain Max Pacioretty owns one in his past nine outings.
ABOUT THE LIGHTNING (18-15-3): Stamkos had a pair of power-play goals in the 5-2 win over Columbus on Saturday as the man-advantage unit recovered from a frustrating 1-of-10 performance in a 2-1 loss to Vancouver on Tuesday. Stamkos’ current linemate Nikita Kucherov boasts a five-game point streak and has accumulated 13 in the past 10 contests. Regular forwards Tyler Johnson (undisclosed), Jonathan Drouin (lower body), Ondrej Palat (lower body) and Brian Boyle (upper body) are all expected to return to the lineup in the next few games.
OVERTIME
1. The Canadiens, who have scored 22 goals in 14 games since Price went down, is 2-for-33 on the power play the last 11 contests.
2. Tampa Bay G Ben Bishop (.927 save percentage) has allowed two or fewer goals in 18 of the last 21 games overall and is 10-1-2 lifetime versus Montreal.
3. Montreal C Alex Galchenyuk may be warming up a bit with three points in the last three games.