Fresh off a hard-fought win over one of their fiercest
rivals, the Montreal Canadiens return to the Bell Centre tonight for a matchup
with the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Montreal comes back home after besting fellow Northeast Division member Boston
in a shootout on Thursday, with Mike Cammalleri scoring the only goal in the
deciding phase to give the Habs a 2-1 victory.
The Canadiens nearly prevailed in regulation, but the Bruins sent the game
into extra time when Patrice Bergeron knocked home a rebound of teammate Zdeno
Chara's shot with just 52 seconds left in the third period.
That would be the only time Boston got the puck past Carey Price, as the young
Montreal netminder turned aside 42-of-43 shots in regulation and overtime
before stoning all three skaters he faced in the shootout.
Glen Metropolit had the lone regulation tally for the Canadiens, who had lost
three times in a four-game span prior to the contest.
Tampa Bay will be concluding a stretch of four straight road tilts tonight and
has gone 1-1-1 so far on the trip. The Lightning were also last in action on
Thursday, when the club was edged by Ottawa in overtime by a 3-2 score.
After a scoreless third period, the Senators came out on top when Jason Spezza
blasted a slapshot past Lightning goaltender Antero Niittymaki with Ottawa on
the power play and only 43 seconds left in overtime.
"It's a tough loss, but we got a point on the road," said the Lightning's
Steven Stamkos. "We've just got to prepare for the next game."
Stamkos tied the score at 2-2 with a second-period goal and has scored at
least one point in nine of Tampa Bay's last 10 games. The top overall pick of
the 2008 draft leads the Lightning with 12 goals and 17 points this season.
One of Tampa Bay's other bright young stars, rookie defenseman Victor Hedman,
was forced to leave Thursday's loss in the second period with an upper-body
injury, the result of a hard hit from Ottawa enforcer Chris Neil. The 18-
year-old Swede, taken by the Lightning with the second overall pick of this
past June's draft, is considered day-to-day.
These teams split four meetings in 2008-09, as well as a pair of matchups held
in Montreal last season. In the Lightning's last visit to the Bell Centre, the
Canadiens delivered a 3-2 overtime win on March 26.
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