MONTREAL — Victor Hedman had a goal and an assist as the Tampa Bay Lightning hung on for a 5-3 win over the slumping Montreal Canadiens in the final game before the 4 Nations Face-Off on Sunday afternoon.
Nick Paul, Brayden Point and Zemgus Girgensons also scored while Anthony Cirelli added an empty-netter for Tampa Bay (31-20-4), which extended its winning streak to four games. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 32 saves.
Brendan Gallagher — with two goals — and Christian Dvorak replied for Montreal (25-26-5), which fought hard for an equalizer late but fell short. The Canadiens have lost three straight and eight of their last nine games.
Jakub Dobes was pulled early in the second period after allowing three goals on eight shots. Sam Montembeault stopped 11 of 12 in relief.
The NHL takes a two-week break for the best-on-best tournament between Canada, Sweden, Finland and the United States in Montreal and Boston.
Tampa Bay’s Anthony Cirelli, Brandon Hagel, Point and head coach Jon Cooper will represent Canada, while Jake Guentzel plays for the United States and Hedman captains Sweden.
Montreal’s Montembeault is one of Canada’s three goalies. Forwards Joel Armia and Patrik Laine will suit up for Finland. The event begins with Canada against Sweden on Wednesday night at the Bell Centre.
Takeaways
Lightning: No Nikita Kucherov, no problem. Tampa filled the net and converted its only power-play opportunity without the superstar winger. The Lightning announced Kucherov was day-to-day with an upper-body injury before puck drop.
Canadiens: Couldn’t pull off the comeback after allowing goals on Tampa’s first two shots. The Canadiens dominated the play in the final 10 minutes but couldn't get the equalizer.
Key moment
Point’s power-play marker 1:05 into the second period gave the Lightning a 3-1 lead and chased Dobes. Hedman and Guentzel assisted on Point’s goal. All three teammates will become opponents starting Monday.
Key stat
Gallagher’s first goal was Montreal’s first at home in nearly three hours eight minutes of game play. The Canadiens were shut out 4-0 by the New Jersey Devils on Sunday and 4-0 by the Minnesota Wild on Jan. 30.
Up next
Lightning: Host the Seattle Kraken on Feb. 23.
Canadiens: Visit the Ottawa Senators on Feb. 22.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 9, 2025.
Daniel Rainbird, The Canadian Press
