TBL@MTL: What you need to know

MONTREAL – The Habs are looking for their second win of the week against a squad from Florida with the Lightning in town for a Thursday-night game at the Bell Centre.

TICKETS: Lightning vs. Canadiens 🎟️

Here’s what you need to know heading into the game:

1. Martin St-Louis' troops earned their fourth win in five games and avoided a season sweep by the Panthers with a 5-3 win on Tuesday at the Bell Centre. Joel Armia, Cole Caufield, Jake Evans, and Nick Suzuki (twice) found the back of the net to propel the home side to victory. With a pair of markers, the captain reached and surpassed the 70-point plateau for the first time in his NHL career. By scoring his 31st and 32nd goals of the campaign, Suzuki became one of five Habs in the last 20 years to have that many tallies or more in a season (the others are Brendan Gallagher, Max Pacioretty, Erik Cole and Alex Kovalev). Samuel Montembeault defended the crease, posting an impressive 37 saves on 40 shots.

2. The Canadiens will be catching the Lightning on the second game of a back-to-back. Their opponents kicked off a three-game road trip with a 4-1 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena on Wednesday. While the Bolts will need to keep an eye on Suzuki who has seven points (5G, 2A) in his last five outings, Montreal must find a way to shutdown Nikita Kucherov. The Lightning forward registered three assists against Toronto and restored his status as the League leader in points with 130 (42G, 88A). With eight wins in their last 10 games, Jon Cooper’s squad sits sixth in the Eastern Conference with 91 points and is looking to secure a spot in the playoffs.

3. Cayden Primeau will be tasked with stopping one of the top offenses in the NHL for his first start of April. The netminder’s performance in March earned him the Molson Cup honor for the month. The 24-year-old registered a 3-1-1 record with a 1.97 goals-against average and a .939 save percentage, while also collecting his second career shutout in the process.

4. The Habs will hold a morning skate at the Bell Centre in preparation for their tilt with the Bolts. Fans can tune in to pregame media ops on the team’s social platforms (YouTube, Facebook, and X). 

5. Game time is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. ET. Fans watching from home can catch all the action on television on TSN2 or RDS, or listen in on the radio on TSN 690 or 98,5 fm. For tickets, click here.