Canadiens at Lightning
The Montreal Canadiens have been a dominant team on home ice and must begin to show they can be tougher on the road over the next two weeks. The Canadiens, who are 6-6-2 away from home, lost the first contest of a season-high seven-game road trip before the holiday break and continue the trek Wednesday against the Atlantic Division-rival Tampa Bay Lightning.
Montreal is without two of its top four scorers - center Alex Galchenyuk (knee) and defenseman Andrei Markov (lower-body) - but should get blue-liner Alexei Emelin back after he missed the 2-1 loss to Columbus on Friday to deal with a personal matter. The Lightning, who have shown signs of snapping out of their slumber by notching at least one point in four of their last six (3-2-1), are expecting to be a healthier team for an important five-game homestand. Leading scorer Nikita Kucherov (lower body), Ondrej Palat (undisclosed) and Vladislav Namestnikov (illness) could be back in the lineup for Tampa Bay while fellow forward Ryan Callahan (lower body) is hopeful of returning in the next week. Andrei Vasilevskiy, who surrendered four goals on 28 shots in his only meeting with Montreal last season, will get the start in net for the Lightning.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, Sportsnet East, Sportsnet360, RDS (Montreal), FSN Sun (Tampa Bay)
ABOUT THE CANADIENS (21-9-4): Montreal has managed to score just three times in its last two games - both losses - and is just 2-for-22 on the power play over the last six contests. Captain Max Pacioretty has picked up some of the slack from the absence of Markov, Galchenyuk and injured center David Desharnais by posting nine goals in his last 10 games. Alexander Radulov is the second-leading active scorer with 23 points, but defenseman Shea Weber has cooled off after an extremeley hot start - managing one point in his last 12 games.
ABOUT THE LIGHTNING (17-15-3): Kucherov and Palat practiced Tuesday while defenseman Braydon Coburn (upper body) and forward Jonathan Drouin (undisclosed), who left Friday’s loss in Washington, also were back on the ice. Drouin was kept off the scoresheet in the 4-0 loss but still has recorded 13 points in his last 10 games to move into a tie for fourth on the team with 20. Defenseman Victor Hedman, who also left Friday’s game before returning in the third period, leads the club - and entered Tuesday tied for second in the league among defensemen - with 23 assists.
OVERTIME
1. The Lightning are 8-for-8 on the penalty kill over their last three games after allowing 12 power-play goals in the first eight contests of the month.
2. The Canadiens have won the last five regular-season meetings, including a 3-1 win in Montreal on Oct. 27.
3. Versatile Tampa Bay C Brian Boyle has recorded four goals in the last six games to double his total on the season.