Lightning at Canadiens
The Tampa Bay Lightning's high-octane offense looks to stay hot when the team continues its six-game road trip against the streaking Montreal Canadiens on Thursday in an Atlantic Division showdown. The Lightning scored 11 times over the first two games of their trek and complete the Canadian portion of the excursion against a Montreal team that is allowing a league-low 1.57 goals per game and riding a five-game winning streak.
Captain Steven Stamkos leads Tampa Bay with nine points, including five goals, and is keenly focused after signing an eight-year contract over the summer. “I think this year, what has helped me is coming to the rink with no distractions and a clear mind,” Stamkos told reporters. “It all helps in having fun and feeling confident.” The Canadiens are the only team in the league without a regulation loss (6-0-1) after edging the host New York Islanders 3-2 on Wednesday and expect to have former Hart and Vezina Trophy winner Carey Price in net against the Lightning. Defenseman Shea Weber, who scored the winning goal against the Islanders on the power play with 2:57 remaining, is off to a dazzling start with his new team as he has recorded nine points and a plus-12 rating in seven contests.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, FSN Sun (Tampa Bay), Sportsnet 360, RDS (Montreal)
ABOUT THE LIGHTNING (5-1-0): Right wing Nikita Kucherov, who was shuffled to Stamkos' line two games ago, broke out with his first goal and three assists in Tuesday's 7-3 victory at Toronto. Vladislav Namestnikov is the third member of the unit and has notched a pair of points in both of the games in which they have skated together. Victor Hedman recorded the team's first goal by a defenseman on Tuesday while the club tallied in the opening period for the first time this season and has converted twice on the power play in each of the first two games of the trip.
ABOUT THE CANADIENS (6-0-1): The power play has been one of the negatives for Montreal (5-for-26 overall) in the early going, but it has converted two of its five chances in the last two contests and Weber owns one of the league’s best shots from the point. Hard-working forward Brendan Gallagher recorded an assist Wednesday to push his total to seven points while captain Max Pacioretty did the same to give him six. Price, who sat in favor of backup Al Montoya against the Islanders, has won all three of his starts and given up five goals on 82 shots since recovering from the flu.
OVERTIME
1. The Canadiens won all four meetings last season after being knocked out of the playoffs by the Lightning in 2014-15.
2. Tampa Bay LW Alex Killorn has scored five goals in six games after not reaching that amount last campaign until his 32nd contest.
3. Montreal’s 18-year-old rookie D Mikhail Sergachev has been scratched for three consecutive games.