Kirby Dach and Jonathan Drouin both tallied a goal in their return to the lineup as the Montreal Canadiens topped the visiting Tampa Bay Lightning 3-2 Tuesday night.
After missing 16 games due to a lower-body injury, Dach netted the night's first goal. Drouin -- who dressed but didn't skate during Montreal's Saturday loss in Tampa for disciplinary reasons -- added a second as the Canadiens (28-37-6, 62 points) salvaged one of four contests in the season series.
Mike Matheson also hit the back of the net for Montreal, and Nick Suzuki notched two assists. Goaltender Sam Montembeault stopped 31 of 33 shots while beating the Lightning for the first time in three attempts.
Canadiens right winger Brendan Gallagher returned and played on the third line after not appearing in a game since Jan. 3 due to a lower-body injury.
For Tampa Bay (42-24-6, 90 points), Brayden Point scored his 44th goal and Pat Maroon also scored.
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Goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy saw his 11-game winning streak against Montreal came to an end after making 17 saves on 20 shots.
Vasilevskiy is the only goalie to record a double-digit, regular-season win streak against the Canadiens in the modern era (since 1943-44).
Dach returned on the top line and put Montreal on the board first. Suzuki's shot from the slot squeezed its way through Vasilevskiy's pads, with Dach tapping it in for his 13th marker at 8:27.
Exactly 14 minutes in, Denis Gurianov found Drouin on the left side for just the second goal of the season to put the game at 2-0.
In the midst of 19 games in 33 days -- the most over that span in franchise history -- the Lightning were stymied early by Montembeault, who stopped all 10 shots he faced in the first period.
During Tampa Bay's second power play, Point finally solved the Montreal netminder with his 18th goal on the man advantage this season at 8:58 of the second with Gurianov off for tripping.
However, Matheson answered by floating a long shot near the blue line through traffic in front of the Lightning goal. The puck found its way in for his eighth goal at 16:58 of the second.
In the final frame at 14:54, the Lightning cut the Canadiens' lead to 3-2 when Maroon posted his third marker.
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Tampa Bay pulled Vasilevskiy in the final minute, and Montreal's Josh Anderson was injured and had to be helped off the ice after crashing into the net trying to score.
But Montreal managed to hold on for just its second win in its past 11 games (2-7-2).
--Field Level Media
The Trust Project
