Evans’ late goal helps Canadiens rally past Lightning

MONTREAL -- Jake Evans broke a tie with 2:15 remaining in the third period, and the Montreal Canadiens came from behind to defeat the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-2 at Bell Centre on Tuesday.

Evans took a pass from Joel Armia in the left face-off circle and scored with a one-timer that went in off Andrei Vasilevskiy’s blocker.

“I think we just have so much belief in how we play and no lead is too far off for us to chase off,” Evans said. “We were down two and weren’t playing our best, and we knew if we started playing our hockey, it’s going to be easy to get back in it.”

Patrik Laine had two assists, and Sam Montembeault made 33 saves for Montreal (24-19-4), which is 13-3-1 in its past 17 games.

Montembeault, who stopped 15 shots in the third, is one of three goalies chosen to play for Canada in the 4 Nations Face-Off, which will be held in Montreal and Boston from Feb. 12-20; the others are Jordan Binnington of the St. Louis Blues and Adin Hill of the Vegas Golden Knights. He was well aware that it was an opportunity to audition for playing time in front of Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper, who will coach Canada. The roster includes Lightning forwards Brayden Point, Anthony Cirelli and Brandon Hagel.

“There are a lot of players on that team who are going to be part of Team Canada,” Montembeault said, “and it’s always fun to compete against some of the best players there like Kucherov, obviously, the best in the League and playing a full two minutes on the power play. But the guys did a great job to really limit his touches.”

The Canadiens’ Lane Hutson extended his assist and point streaks (13 points; one goal, 12 assists) to nine games, tying the NHL record for the longest assist streak by a rookie defenseman, set by Shayne Gostisbehere of the Philadelphia Flyers in 2015-16.

Nikita Kucherov scored to push his point streak to 10 games and reach 70 points for the seventh time for Tampa Bay (25-18-3), which took a 2-0 lead early in the second period. Vasilevskiy made 19 saves.

“It was a close game,” Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman said. “We carried most of the game but they got a break with a few minutes left and capitalized.”

Tampa Bay, which lost 5-3 at the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday, is in third place in the Atlantic Division with 53 points, one ahead of the Canadiens, Ottawa Senators and Boston Bruins.

“It’s bunched up,” Lightning forward Jake Guentzel said. “It’s part of the game now. Every game matters coming down the stretch here so we’ve just to make sure we go out and get our points.”

Kucherov gave Tampa Bay a 1-0 lead at 14:20 of the first period, slipping the puck between Montembeault’s legs off a pass from Cirelli in the goalmouth.

He has 22 goals and 48 assists in 44 games, and 16 points (five goals, 11 assists) during his point streak.

Guentzel made it 2-0 at 2:45 of the second period when he put a backhand past Montembeault’s right pad off Michael Eyssimont’s centering pass from behind the net.

“There was still a lot of time left, even though they scored early in the second,” Montembeault said. “The power play got a big goal for us right away after and gave us a lot of momentum.”

Juraj Slafkovsky cut it to 2-1 with a power-play goal at 5:32. His low shot from a sharp angle along the left side found its way through a small opening between Vasilevskiy’s right pad and blocker at the near post. Hutson had the secondary assist.

“I was aiming upstairs but I whiffed and it went in,” Slafkovsky said.

Alex Newhook tied it 2-2 at 7:21 with a one-timer from the top of the slot.

“They play a difficult game,” Guentzel said. “They put pucks in and obviously they’re really fast and really skilled. They battled back, and that’s a good team.”

NOTES: Kucherov has 11 point streaks of 10 games or more and is tied with Pittsburgh Penguins center Sidney Crosby for the second most among active players. Edmonton Oilers center Connor McDavid has 16. … With seven 70-point seasons, Kucherov trails only Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis (nine) and Steven Stamkos (eight) for the most in Lightning history. … Hutson is tied with four players for the second-longest point streak by a Montreal rookie. Forward Joe Malone had a 14-game point streak for the Canadiens during the NHL’s inaugural season in 1917-18.