Lightning defeat Canadiens in OT in first NHL game after break

TAMPA -- Brayden Point scored twice in his return from injury and Ondrej Palat scored 36 seconds into overtime for the Tampa Bay Lightning in a 5-4 win against the Montreal Canadiens at Amalie Arena on Tuesday in the first NHL game after the holiday break.

Victor Hedman gathered a loose puck in the offensive zone and sent a pass to Palat for the shot that beat Canadiens goalie Sam Montembeault.
Corey Perry scored with 20 seconds remaining in the third period for the Lightning (21-6-4), who have won seven straight at home. Maxime Lagace made 27 saves in his first NHL start since May 8 for the Pittsburgh Penguins when he shut out the Buffalo Sabres.
"I think both teams played well at times and both teams probably left some play and some time out there they probably want back," said Lightning assistant Derek Lalonde, who filled in with coach Jon Cooper missing his second game in COVID-19 protocol. "For us it was certainly in the first, the first half of the first and the first half of the third.
"In the end, as I told the guys, a credit for them to find a way, like we've done all year long … hanging in there and executing on the goalie pull at the end."

Rafael Harvey-Pinard and Kale Clague each scored his first NHL goal for the Canadiens (7-21-4), who have lost six straight. Montembeault made 32 saves.
"For sure it's frustrating; on top of it, this is the second time they've done this to us, they did it to us at the Bell Centre last time," Monteambeault said. "But it's mostly frustrating because it's happened this year where we were down in the game by a little bit and we came out for the third period with no energy.
"But this time we did the opposite; we played an excellent third period. That's why it hurts even more. We wanted to go get that win. But unfortunately they tied it with 19 seconds left and it really hurt us."
Lukas Vejdemo gave the Canadiens 1-0 lead at 10:45 of the first period when he gathered a loose puck in front of the crease and scored in the open net.
Point, who missed 14 games with an upper-body injury, tied it 1-1 at 11:38 when he made a move on a 2-on-1 breakout and chipped in a shot from the slot. He gave the Lightning a 2-1 lead at 14:10 with a tip in off a pass from Alex Killorn.
"The game doesn't change, but some of the timing was a little off," Point said. "Little bit off in the early parts of the game, but I kind of felt better as the game went on."

Harvey-Pinard tied it 2-2 at 2:05 of the second period when he poked in the puck from close range off a pass from Sam Niku.
Ross Colton gave the Lightning a 3-2 at 8:11 with a one-timer off a cross-ice pass from Steven Stamkos.
Clague tied the game 3-3 at 6:11 of the third period with a shot from the left circle that scored off the far post.
David Savard put the Canadiens ahead 4-3 at 13:09 of the third period with a shot from the slot for his first goal of the season.
"Little things can make a difference in giving you success and those things you control," Canadiens coach Dominique Ducharme said. "I thought tonight we did that and we've got to duplicate it every night."

Perry tied it 4-4 with 20 seconds left in the third. The Lightning pulled Legace for an extra attacker and Perry jammed in the puck from close range during a scramble in front of the net.
"I thought we had good execution, we were moving the puck around," Perry said. You just stick with it. They broke a stick, had to go to the bench and get a new one. The guy was late coming back, and I found out I was all alone."
NOTES: It was the first NHL game since the Lightning defeated the Vegas Golden Knights 4-3 on Dec. 21. … The Canadiens played for the first time since a 5-2 loss to the Penguins on Dec. 14. … Savard scored his first goal in 63 games, and second in his past 158 games. His last goal was March 30 as a member of the Columbus Blue Jackets against the Lightning. He was traded to the Lightning on April 10 and helped them win the Stanley Cup. He signed with the Canadiens as a free agent on July 28. … Niku had an assist in his first game since Nov. 29 (COVID-19 protocol). ... Lightning defenseman Sean Day was minus-1 with two hits in 6:42 of ice time in his NHL debut. ... Hedman had two assists and has scored six points (two goals, four assists) in his past four games. ... Montembeault stopped Lightning forward Alex Killorn on two breakaways in the second period. ... Canadiens forward Brendan Gallagher was minus-2 with two shots on goal in his first game since Nov. 29 (COVID-19 protocol). ... Killorn had two assists and has scored six points (goal, five assists) in his past six games. … Lagace was called up from Syracuse of the American Hockey League on Monday with goalies Andrei Vasilevskiy and Brian Elliott in COVID-19 protocol.