In one of the best games of the NHL season, the Tampa Bay Lightning (42-20-6) and Montreal Canadiens (42-18-7) battled each other to a scoreless tie through three periods. Ben Bishop and Carey Price put on a goaltending clinic that ended with Tyler Johnson scoring in overtime, giving the Bolts a 1-0 win at the Bell Centre in Montreal.
The early first period saw both teams feeling each other out and not giving up much space. Play turned chippy, but the Bolts failed miserably on their power play chances as Montreal aggressively pressured the puck to the tune of five takeaways and created a slew of odd-man rushes. Tampa Bay did have a couple of great power play opportunities from Ondrej Palat in the slot, but he couldn’t solve Montreal goalie Carey Price.
The Canadiens had the first three shots on goal in the game but in the scoreless first period the shots ended up 10-6 in favor of Tampa Bay.
The Lightning dominated the first half of the second period led by the “Triplets” line, who were buzzing, but Carey Price was up to the task keeping the Bolts off the board.
Both goalies were superb in the second period, keeping the game scoreless.
Shots for the period were 13-11 in favor of Tampa Bay.
The Bolts came out flying in the third period, but time and time again Price bailed out the Canadiens. Even without Ondrej Palat, who went out with a lower body injury, the “Triplets” line continued to dominate with Jonathan Drouin in his place.
The period saw Ben Bishop and Price trade big save after big save, sending the scoreless game to overtime.
Shots in the period were 10-2 in favor of the Bolts. For the game, the Lightning led 33-19.
This was the first time all season, the Lightning had been shutout through regulation.
The Bolts finally broke through at 1:05 of overtime when Tyler Johnson lugged the puck coast-to-coast around the net and threw a backhander at Price that went off Tom Gilbert‘s skate and into the net. Johnson’s 25th goal was assisted by Braydon Coburn and Jason Garrison. It was Johnson’s fifth game-winning goal and he is on a seven game point streak.
According to beat writer Joe Smith, Johnson said after the game, “It was a lucky goal, but we’ll take it.”
The Lightning got to the 90 point mark, but still trail the Canadien’s by one point. Tampa Bay is 3-0 vs. the Canadiens, outscoring them 12-3. The teams play each other two more times.
Ben Bishop was outstanding in net, stopping all 19 shots he faced to earn his third shutout of the season. Bishop won his 33rd game of the season and is on his way to the franchise record of 37 that he set a year ago.
The Canadiens’ Carey Price showed why he deserves Hart Trophy consideration by stopping 35 of 36 shots despite losing. He was solely responsible for the Canadiens earning a point and staying ahead of the Lightning in the Atlantic Division.
Tampa Bay struggled on the power play going 0-4 in the game.
The Bolts are 4-0 since acquiring defenseman Braydon Coburn.
Ondrej Palat left the game with 2:03 remaining in the second period. Palat didn’t return to the game with a lower-body injury. According to beat writer Erik Erlendsson, Cooper said Palat took a puck off his foot, they took “pictures” and appear to be negative, will be re-evaluated on Wednesday
Nikita Nesterov (healthy), J.T. Brown (upper body) and Matt Carle (abdominal surgery) were the scratches.
The Lightning will visit the Boston Bruins Thursday night and then will return for a six game homestand.
(Feature Photograph/Getty Images)
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