A goal from Jake Evans with 2:15 left in the third period gave the Montreal Canadiens a 3-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning.
The outcome of the match was uncertain since the middle of the middle period when Evans, helped by Joel Armia and Alexandre Carrier, tilted the match in favor of the Habs (24-19-4, 52 points).
The Canadiens finally applied the same method that the Maple Leafs had used on them a few days ago: unanswered goals that turned a defeat into a victory. The Habs erased a two-goal deficit.
In addition to Evans (11th), Juraj Slafkovsky (7th), on the power play, and Alex Newhook (9th) scored for the winners. Patrick Laine obtained two assists. Lane Hutson picked up an assist. Samuel Montembeault, very often spectacular, repelled 33 of the 35 pucks aimed at him.
Nikita Kucherov (22nd), booed profusely by the Bell Center crowd, and Jake Guentzel (24th) hit the mark for the Lightning (25-18-3, 53 points). Andrei Vasilevskiy faced 22 shots.
The Canadiens will be in Detroit on Thursday to face the Red Wings.
-It goes fast!
The pace is very strong at the start of the first period and the Canadians come close to taking the lead when a puck shot by Mike Matheson hits the post.
The Lightning opened the scoring when Kaiden Guhle missed an errant puck behind him, leading to Nikita Kucherov’s goal at 14:20.
The Canadians successfully overcome two numerical disadvantages, but they fail to capitalize on their unique power play during the period. Much worse, Christian Dvorak gets a penalty with six seconds left in the start.
