In Tampa, the Lightning chased their game with the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night. 
Tyler Motte scored a shorthanded goal midway through the third period to tie the game, 3-3, forcing extra time which solved nothing.
“You can’t dig holes in this league and escape it every time, but good for us to stick with it and find a way,” Motte said. “Two points is two points this time of year. This time of the year everyone’s looking at the standings, and the [Trade] Deadline is coming up, too. There’s no secret there, but this is the time where teams really figure out who they are, and you’ve got to find a way to win.”
Victor Hedman was credited with the deciding goal on penalties for the 4-3 win to the Lighting, and crucial two points i the stretch run.
“You can’t dig holes in this league and escape it every time, but good for us to stick with it and find a way,” Motte said. “Two points is two points this time of year. This time of the year everyone’s looking at the standings, and the [Trade] Deadline is coming up, too. There’s no secret there, but this is the time where teams really figure out who they are, and you’ve got to find a way to win.”
Andrei Vasilevskiy made 28 saves in the win.
The Lightning moved to 33-24-6, snapping a two-game skid.
“We’ll come away pleased with the result, but we can’t come out the way we did and spot an NHL team two goals and give yourselves two periods to come back,” Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said. “That’s not a recipe for success.”
The Habs scored twice in the opening stanza to take a 2-0 lead on the Lightning.
Joel Armia opened the scoring at 1:27 of the first, hitting off an odd man rush for a 1-0 lead to Montreal.
“We’ve been very competitive here for a while, and it’s everybody,” Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis said. “You can’t have any passengers. [Armia] has been playing great. It’s nice for him to get rewarded, but there’s a lot of other things on the ice that he does that don’t end up on the score sheet.”
Montreal stretched the lead to 2-0 when Jake Evans, scoring off a tip in at 14:3.
In the middle frame, Tampa rallied back with a pair to tie the game, 2-2.
Brayden Point trimmed the deficit to 2-1 at 7:44.
“They came out hot and got a 2-0 lead, but we were a better team in the second and we were about to battle back,” Hedman said. “We didn’t have the lead, but two points is the most important thing in a game like this. We’ll take them any way we can this time of year.”
Tampa got even, 2-2, on a a marker form Anthony Cirelli at 15:49, scoring off a shot from the low right side.
“I thought we took it to them in the first; we played how we wanted to,” the Habs’ Cole Caufield said. “We know they’re going to get their chances and their looks. Our overall game is pretty good right now and we’ve just got to do a better job of finishing it off in the third.”
Cayden Primeau made 27 saves in the loss.
“It’s a tough one to swallow after being up a couple of goals,” Primeau said. “But to come into their building on a Saturday night and take them to a shootout is a good test for us. You can take away some things, but it was a good game from us.”
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