Canadiens 3, Lightning 1
Carey Price made 23 saves and Mike Blunden scored his first goal of the season as the Montreal Canadiens skated to a 3-1 victory over the visiting Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday.
Max Pacioretty added his 12th tally and assisted on Erik Cole’s late power-play goal for the Canadiens, who have won back-to-back games for the first time since Dec. 10-13.
Montreal found its offense in a 7-3 victory over the Winnipeg Jets on Wednesday and showed off its defense on Saturday by holding the Lightning without a tally for the final 56:36.
Blunden, a seldom-used forward, parked himself in front of the net on one of his few shifts in the second period. Defenseman Hal Gill, who was working from the left point, sent a hard pass to the right of the net that Blunden collected and quickly swept with the backhand past Tampa Bay goaltender Mathieu Garon.
Pacioretty gave the Canadiens the lead 1:33 later. Defenseman P.K. Subban got the puck in the Montreal zone and sent it forward to a wide-open Pacioretty in the neutral zone. Skating in unmarked, Pacioretty wristed the game-winner in from the right side.
The Lightning were called for a hooking penalty with under 30 seconds left and Cole dumped in his 17th goal from the doorstep to seal the win.