The Montreal Canadiens will be looking to dampen the Tampa Bay Lightning’s playoff hopes as they begin their three game road trip Saturday night at the Amalie Arena. The Lightning are three points behind the Boston Bruins for the second wild card position in the Eastern Conference with 85 points but have been one of the hottest teams in the NHL as of late with a record of 7-3 in their last ten games. On top of that the Lightning are currently on a four game winning streak and have found success despite the numerous injuries to their roster.
There was some speculation that Steven Stamkos would make his long awaited return to the ice this evening against the Canadiens but he is not quite ready for actual games. Tyler Johnson, Jason Garrison and Cedric Paquette are also out with injuries and so the Lightning lineup for tonight will be:
#Bolts morning skate lines:
— Bryan Burns (@BBurnsNHL) April 1, 2017
Palat-Point-Kucherov
Killorn-Namestnikov-Drouin
Erne-Gourde-Vermin
Dumont-McKegg-Brown
Nikita Kucherov has been nothing short of outstanding for the Lightning, especially throughout the past month. With 22 points in 14 games he was recently named the NHL’s first star of March.
Let’s see:
— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) April 1, 2017
• 22 points in 14 games
• Led all skaters with six PPGs
• Currently shares overall PPG lead with 17
• Oh, and the hat trick
The Canadiens would be doing the Boston Bruins a big favor if they are able to defeat the Lightning this evening. Not only that though, they would be helping whoever ends up winning the Metropolitan (likely Washington) because nobody wants to face a hot Lightning team, especially one that could get back Stamkos and Johnson before the season’s end. Considering the Lightning’s recent playoff success including having reached the Stanley Cup Final in 2015, it would not surprise anyone should the Lightning find a way to upset a top seed. It would not be understatement to say that the Canadiens hold the Lightning’s playoff hopes in their hands, especially considering that the two teams will face one another again on April 7th at the Bell Centre.
As strong as the Lightning have been as of late, the Canadiens are right there with them as their record in the past ten games is 7-2-1. Head coach Claude Julien has done a masterful job on repairing the team’s confidence and getting a balanced attack. It also certainly helps to have Carey Price in the crease… The team is riding high having just punched their ticket to the postseason with a 6-2 victory over the Florida Panthers on Thursday night but they know that they will have their hands full with the Lightning tonight. With their playoff spot guaranteed, the Canadiens can now turn their focus on winning the Atlantic division. The Canadiens lead over the second place Ottawa Senators has widened to six points with a total of 97, although the Senators still hold one game in hand. Perhaps the Senators need to pay a little more attention to their rearview mirror as the Toronto Maple Leafs are just two points behind them for second place in the division and home ice advantage.
Carey Price will start in net for the Canadiens while Jordie Benn continues to be out day-to-day. Torrey Mitchell is also out with a sickness while it appears as though Michael McCarron will get back into the lineup in place of Steve Ott. It appears as though Julien is content with rotating his fourth line centers every two games or so in order to keep them both fresh for the playoffs. The lines will be:
Pacioretty-Danault-Shaw Galchenyuk-Shaw-Lehkonen Byron-Plekanec-Gallagher King-McCarron-Martinsen
Markov-Weber Davidson-Petry Beaulieu-Emelin
Price
Puck drops at 7pm.
Cheers and follow along! Follow @jenbcutler