Kucherov, Lightning defeat Canadiens, gain in Atlantic

MONTREAL -- Nikita Kucherov and Steven Stamkos each had three points, and the Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the Montreal Canadiens 7-4 at Bell Centre on Thursday.

Kucherov had a goal and two assists, Stamkos had two goals and an assist, Nicholas Paul scored twice, and Michael Eyssimont had a goal and an assist for Tampa Bay (43-26-7), which has won five of six, including a 4-1 victory at the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday.

“I think our game’s rounding out,” said Stamkos, the Lightning captain. “I don’t think it’s perfect by any means but we’ve put together a really solid stretch where we really needed those points.”

Matt Tomkins made 27 saves in his first start since Nov. 7, when he got his first NHL victory in a 5-3 win here.

“There was a lot of push from them, we knew that they weren’t just going to sit back in the third (period),” Tomkins said. “So obviously we weren’t surprised that they pushed, maybe they had a little bit more than we anticipated. But I thought we stayed composed. Obviously we gave up a lot more than we wanted to but at the end of the day you get two points and you get a win, and that’s most important.”

The Lightning moved within two points of the Maple Leafs for third place in the Atlantic Division. Tampa Bay holds the first wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference, 10 points ahead of the New York Islanders. 

“We got two points and we’re inching our way closer to a playoff spot, so I’m pretty happy about that,” Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said.

Joel Armia scored twice for Montreal (29-34-12), which had won four of five. Cayden Primeau made 29 saves.

The Canadiens were eliminated from playoff contention.

“They’re a playoff team and I’ve said many times we want to play playoff hockey, so we’re going to do all the scrums and stuff,” Montreal forward Juraj Slafkovsky said. “That’s what we’re trying to get better at and I feel like the closer we get to a playoff spot or even now, just building up the games will be intense and we want to fight and win the physical part of the game, and then also obviously win on the board.”

The Lightning scored four consecutive goals in the second period after Armia tied it 2-2 with his second of the game at 4:42.

Stamkos put Tampa Bay up 3-2 at 7:58 with a one-timer from the left face-off circle off Anthony Cirelli's cross-ice pass.

Paul pushed it to 4-2 with his second of the game at 9:12 on a wrist shot over Primeau’s glove from the slot.

“I just got some nice space in the scoring areas and hit the net,” Paul said.

Brandon Hagel made it 5-2 at 13:18, and Kucherov extended it to 6-2 on the power play at 17:45, scoring on a one-timer from the right face-off circle.

Slafkovsky pulled the Canadiens within 6-3 at 8:40 of the third period when he deflected Arber Xhekaj’s right-point shot, and Cole Caufield cut it to 6-4 at 11:51.

Stamkos scored into an empty net with 54 seconds remaining for the 7-4 final. Kucherov got the assist, giving him his second straight three-point game and 21st of the season. He had three assists Wednesday.

Kucherov leads the NHL with 133 points (43 goals, 90 assists), three ahead of Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon. It was his 37th multipoint game this season, one shy of tying his Lightning record of 38 set in 2018-19.

Armia gave Montreal a 1-0 lead at 2:37 of the first when he batted in a rebound of Brendan Gallagher’s shot.

Paul tied it 1-1 with a power-play goal at 9:45. He slapped home a loose puck after a rebound of Brayden Point’s shot bounced off him and landed at his feet as he cut across the front of the net. Kucherov got the secondary assist.

Eyssimont put Tampa Bay up 2-1 at 16:26 when he drove to the net and jammed the puck off the blade of Primeau’s stick up and over the goalie.

“We haven’t done that much this year, but that was self-inflicted for sure,” Gallagher said about the Canadiens’ struggles in the second period. “We’ve been playing some pretty good hockey. Hopefully that’s not reminiscent of who we are. They’re a good team but we didn’t really make them earn it. … Made it a little bit easier on them, especially playing a back-to-back. So it’s disappointing.

“I am proud of the way the guys continued to fight in the third period, but I guess that’s a bit of a tougher lesson for us to learn and one that you make sure doesn’t happen again.”

NOTES: Kucherov joined Edmonton Oilers center Connor McDavid as the only players with 90 assists this season. It is the first time two players have reached 90 assists in the same season since 1995-96, when Mario Lemieux and Ron Francis each had 92 assists for the Pittsburgh Penguins. … Cirelli (undisclosed) left the game in the second period, and Hagel (undisclosed) left at 12:53 of the third after colliding with Stamkos following a check into the boards by Xhekaj. “[Cirelli] got dinged up and it was getting at a point now that it’s a lot of precaution stuff here,” Cooper said. “I didn’t want to tempt anything so we kept them out.” … Canadiens defenseman Kaiden Guhle (upper body) left at 4:07 of the first after Kucherov checked him into the boards behind the Montreal net.