The Tampa Bay Lightning (20-11-1) welcome the Montreal Canadiens (15-16-3) at Amalie Arena on Wednesday. Montreal is coming off a 4-2 loss against the Stars on Friday. The Canadiens committed six penalties in the game, conceding three power play goals. Michael Pezzetta and Jake Evans each scored once for the Canadiens.
Pezzetta added an assist to lead the team in scoring. Jake Allen had 32 saves in the loss. Tampa Bay fell 7-4 to the Red Wings on Wednesday. Four players found the net for the Lightning. Nikita Kucherov and Ross Colton both scored and provided an assist to lead the team in scoring. Brian Elliott saved only 24 of 29 shots against (.827%) in the loss.
HEAD TO HEAD
The Lightning won the first meeting between the teams this season, a 5-1 victory on December 17. Brandon Hagel led Tampa Bay with three points (2G 1A). Nick Suzuki scored Montreal’s only goal. Andrei Vasilevskiy got the win, saving 22 of 23 shots (.956%).
FACING OFF
Montreal is averaging 2.68 goals per game for the season, 28th in the NHL, and they are taking on a Lightning team that is allowing 3.00 goals a game (14th). Meanwhile, Tampa Bay has found the net 3.59 times a game on average, fourth in the league, and the Canadiens are allowing opponents to score 3.47 goals per game (25th).
Montreal averages fewer shots (28.3) than most teams in the league, ranking 30th. Tampa Bay’s average of 31.4 attempts ranks 17th.The Canadiens’ 14.15% power play percentage is the lowest in the league, while the Lightning rank eighth with a conversion rate of 26.27%. When it comes to penalty killing, Tampa Bay has the league’s ninth-ranked PK% at 80.77%, while Montreal is 20th at 76.86%.
TOP PERFORMERS:
With 31 points this season, Suzuki is the top skater for the Canadiens. He has 15 goals and 16 assists in 34 games. In the net, Sam Montembeault (6-3-2) is Montreal’s top goaltender by goals against average.
He has a 2.89 GAA and a .912% save percentage. Allen (9-13-1) leads the Canadiens in games played in goal. He has a GAA of 3.26 and a save percentage of .900%.
Kucherov leads the Lightning in scoring with 49 points (5th in the league). He has a league-best 36 assists and 13 goals (). Vasilevskiy (13-9-1) is the top goalie for Tampa Bay with a goals against average of 2.53. He has a save percentage of .917%.
HOME AND AWAY
Montreal is 8-7-3 away from home this season. Tampa Bay has won four straight at home this season.
SportsTips’ NHL Pick:
TB Lightning (-350)
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*Odds correct at time of publication, courtesy of BetMGM.
