In Tampa, the Lightning’s Steven Stamkos scored to tie the game, 3-3, in the third period on Saturday with the Montreal Canadiens.
Brandon Hagel then hit for a two goals to complete a hat trick and the Lighting downed the Habs, 5-3.
Brian Elliott made 18 saves in the Tampa win.
The Lightning moved to 42-22-6, and kept pace with the Toronto Maple Leafs who defeated the Ottawa Senators 5-4, in overtime.
“I actually didn’t mind our game tonight, but in the second period our puck management wasn’t there and all of a sudden you’re down 3-2,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. “I loved our third. I didn’t think we’d get 16 shots, but it was holding them to as little as possible. We had a big kill and the power play came up big when we needed it.”
Montreal dropped to 27-37-6.
“I thought we were better defensively,” Montreal coach Martin St. Louis said. “If you work off the first period in Florida (seven goals against in a 9-5 loss to the Panthers on Thursday), I think we became very fragile and lost our way.
“I felt the second and third [periods] in Florida were better, but it didn’t matter because the first was so bad. I felt that the group practiced hard yesterday. We were engaged, we worked on things, and tonight it showed.”
The Canadiens are 1-7-2 in their last 10Â matches.
Hagel picked up his second goal of the night at 5:58 of the third to give the Bolts a 4-3 lead.
“Obviously everyone wants to get a hat trick,” Hagel said. “I don’t know. It’s definitely a good feeling, especially at home, I guess.”
Mike Hoffman scored in the first period to give the Habs a 1-0 lead, Victor Hedman scored for Tampa to tie it, 1-1.
“We stepped on the gas [in the third period],” Hedman said. “These are tough games. There’s not an easy game in this league and we knew that coming in. [The Canadiens] have lost games, but they’ve scored a lot of goals in those losses.”
Hagel’s first of the night came in the middle frame for a 2-1 lead to Tampa.
“You can put him anywhere, he’s like a Swiss army knife,” Cooper said. “You can put him on different lines and he blossoms in different roles. This year he’s showing all sides of how versatile he is, so it’s good for him. You love to see guys like that get rewarded.”
Denis Gurianov and Jesse Ylonen (power play) scored in the second period to give the Canadiens a 3-2 lead headed to the third stanza.
“Supporting each other was better, getting in lanes, our structure, it was a lot better tonight,” Montreal’s Nick Suzuki said. “A couple things need to get cleaned up, little details, but I thought we had a good game tonight.”
Sam Montembeault made 36 saves in the Canadiens loss.
“I think tonight was a fair thing, and ‘Jo’ handled it tremendously well,” St. Louis said. “Me and Jo have a great relationship. I got to know him a lot this year, and he’s had a great season for us this year. I love the kid, and for him to handle it the way he did, I gained even more respect for him.”
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