The Tampa Bay Lightning closed a Canadian back-to-back with a 3-2 loss in Montreal on Tuesday.
The Lightning are 25-18-3 this season and will look to get back in the win column when they visit the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday.
Nikita Kucherov’s 70th point of the season started the scoring on Tuesday.
Kucherov found a loose puck in front of the Montreal net after chipping the puck into the offensive zone, and the forward’s shot beat Montreal goalie Sam Montembeault for the lead.
Jake Guentzel doubled the visitors’ lead early in the second, but Montreal tied the game with a pair of goals in 1 minute, 49 seconds in the second period.
The Canadiens took their first lead with 2:15 remaining to steal the victory.
Tampa Bay goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy finished with 19 saves, while Montembeault had 33 for the win.
Scoring summary
First period
TBL 1, MTL 0
14:20 Nikita Kucherov (22) - Anthony Cirelli, Emil Lilleberg
After Nikita Kucherov dumped the puck into the offensive zone, Anthony Cirelli won a puck race before tapping the puck to Kucherov in the slot. Kucherov fired the loose puck into the net for the opening goal.
Shots on goal: TBL 11, MTL 5
Second period
TBL 2, MTL 0
2:45 Jake Guentzel (24) - Mikey Eyssimont
Forward Jake Guentzel buried a one-time shot on the backhand in front of the net, depositing the puck after teammate Mikey Eyssimont had wrapped the puck around the Montreal net.
TBL 2, MTL 1
5:32 Juraj Slafkovsky (7) - Patrik Laine, Lane Hutson - PP
Montreal’s first goal of the night came on the power play early in period two. Forward Juraj Slafkovsky took the puck near the goal line and slipped it through a narrow opening low.
TBL 2, MTL 2
7:21 Alex Newhook (9) - Laine
A one-timer from the top of the offensive zone tied the game for Montreal, as forward Alex Newhook scored on a pass from Patrik Laine.
Shots on goal: TBL 9, MTL 9
Third period
MTL 3, TBL 2
17:44 Jake Evans (11) - Joel Armia, Alexandre Carrier
Jake Evans secured Montreal’s first lead in the game’s closing minutes, sending his one-timer from the left circle into the top half of the Lightning net with just over two minutes remaining.
Total shots: TBL 35, MTL 22
