The Montreal Canadiens capitalized on the Ottawa Senators losing Saturday night to get a bit closer to the Atlantic Division title.
The Habs defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning, 2-1, in extra time.
Alexander Radulov scored the game-winner with less than a minute gone in the extra session.
“I was really proud of the way the guys handled themselves,” Canadiens head coach Claude Julien said. “You clinch a [Stanley Cup Playoff] spot (on Thursday) and there’s always that chance of a letdown when you play a real desperate team that was going to give us and playoff-type game and we were ready for it.”
Carey Price made 21 saves to get the win who extended their lead over the Senators to ight points; they lead the Toronto Maple Leafs by the same margin.
“We had a lot of chances, their goalie played well and kept them in the game for them to tie it up,” Radulov said. “In overtime, we were trading chances. [Pacioretty] made a nice pass and the puck kind of found me.”
Phillip Danault scored in regulation for the Canadiens.
The loser’s point for the Bolts left them four points back of the Boston Bruins with a game in hand.
Yanni Gourde scored the Lightning’s lone goal.
“We’ll take this point. We’re still in it, there’s still five games left. We have another big game [Sunday], Tampa’s Victor Hedman said after the loss.
WATCH: All Canadiens vs. Lightning highlights
Andrei Vasilevskiy took the loss on 34 saves.
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