It took erasing a pair of deficits in regulation, overtime and a six-round shootout, but the Lightning picked up two big points with a 4-3 victory over the Canadiens at AMALIE Arena on Saturday night.
Brayden Point, Anthony Cirelli and Tyler Motte all scored in regulation for the Bolts.
Victor Hedman notched the game-winning goal in the shootout.
Andrei Vasilevskiy made 28 saves over regulation and overtime, before stopping another five in the shootout.
The Lightning will resume the homestand on Thursday when they welcome the Flames to Tampa.
Scoring Summary
1st Period
MTL 1, TBL 0
1:27 Joel Armia (11) – Kaiden Guhle, Alex Newhook
An early odd man rush materialized for the Canadiens, and a feed from Kaiden Guhle just inside the blue line sprung Joel Armia in alone. Armia beat Andrei Vasilevskiy to put the Lightning down 1-0 less than 90 seconds into the first period.
MTL 2, TBL 0
14:34 Jake Evans (5) – Brendan Gallagher
In the corner, Brendan Gallagher managed to strip the puck from Darren Raddysh and set up Jake Evans for a redirection in front of the net that Vasilevskiy couldn’t keep out.
2nd Period
MTL 2, TBL 1
7:44 Brayden Point (32) – Steven Stamkos, Nikita Kucherov
The Lightning began to find their game as the second period wore on and got back within a goal on a beautiful passing sequence. Nikita Kucherov started it, whipping the puck from the corner to Steven Stamkos’ tape in the slot. Stamkos made the extra pass and set up Brayden Point at the side of the net for the goal.
MTL 2, TBL 2
15:49 Anthony Cirelli (13) – Brandon Hagel, Haydn Fleury
On the near side, Brandon Hagel was able to spin free from Arber Xhekaj and thread a feed through to Anthony Cirelli just inside the right circle. Cirelli took a moment to settle the puck before firing a shot past Cayden Primeau to tie the game at two.
3rd Period
MTL 3, TBL 2
6:23 Cole Caufield (20) – Arber Xhekaj, David Savard
Cole Caufield capped a shift of heavy pressure from the Canadiens with a goal to put them back in front. From the top of the right circle, Caufield fired a wrist shot cleanly through traffic that beat Vasilevskiy.
MTL 3, TBL 3
10:18 Tyler Motte (6) – SHG
A Mitchell Chaffee boarding penalty was initially called a major on the ice but downgraded to a minor after review. Nonetheless, the Lightning emerged from the shorthanded sequence tied again, after Tyler Motte intercepted a feed in his own zone and fired a shot through Primeau’s five-hole on the ensuing breakaway.
Overtime
No Scoring
Shootout
Down a goal headed to the third round of the shootout, Steven Stamkos scored to keep the Lightning alive. Both goaltenders kept the shootout going until the sixth round when Victor Hedman opened with a goal and Vasilevskiy denied Joshua Roy’s try to preserve the second point for Tampa Bay.
