Montreal and Tampa Bay square off with series tied 1-1

Tampa Bay Lightning (50-26-6, in the Atlantic Division) vs. Montreal Canadiens (48-24-10, in the Atlantic Division)

Montreal, Quebec; Friday, 7 p.m. EDT

LINE: Lightning -121, Canadiens +101; over/under is 6

NHL PLAYOFFS FIRST ROUND: Series tied 1-1

BOTTOM LINE: The Tampa Bay Lightning visit the Montreal Canadiens for game three of the first round of the NHL Playoffs with the series tied 1-1. The teams meet Tuesday for the seventh time this season. The Lightning won 3-2 in overtime in the last meeting.

Montreal is 48-24-10 overall with a 17-9-2 record in Atlantic Division games. The Canadiens are 20-6-2 when scoring a power-play goal.

Tampa Bay has a 50-26-6 record overall and a 17-9-2 record in Atlantic Division play. The Lightning have a 16-7-3 record when they commit fewer penalties than their opponent.

TOP PERFORMERS: Cole Caufield has 51 goals and 37 assists for the Canadiens. Juraj Slafkovsky has four goals and six assists over the last 10 games.

Jake Guentzel has 38 goals and 50 assists for the Lightning. Nikita Kucherov has five goals and seven assists over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Canadiens: 6-3-1, averaging 2.5 goals, 4.6 assists, 5.1 penalties and 13.9 penalty minutes while giving up 2.7 goals per game.

Lightning: 5-4-1, averaging 2.8 goals, 4.8 assists, 6.5 penalties and 17 penalty minutes while giving up 2.8 goals per game.

INJURIES: Canadiens: Patrik Laine: out (abdomen), Noah Dobson: out (thumb).

Lightning: Charle-Edouard D’Astous: day to day (undisclosed), Victor Hedman: out (personal), Pontus Holmberg: out (upper-body).

___

The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

Copyright © 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.

Federal News Network Logo
Log in to your WTOP account for notifications and alerts customized for you.

Sign up