Tampa Bay Lightning at Montreal Canadiens Preview
By Austin Hart
The Tampa Bay Lightning (42-23-6) hit the road tonight to face off once again with the Montreal Canadiens (27-37-6). Puck drop is slated for 7:00 p.m. ET and FanDuel has the Lightning at heavy favorites again at -285 with an over/under at 6.5.
The Bolts are coming off splitting a back-to-back weekend at home with a 5-3 win over the Canadiens and a 5-2 loss to the New Jersey Devils. Saturday was a big night for the Lightning against Montreal with Brandon Hagel collecting his second career hat trick alongside Steven Stamkos scoring his 30th goal of the season. Unfortunately, Tampa Bay seemed to run out of gas midway through the second game of their back-to-back. Nikita Kucherov and Alex Killorn gave the Bolts are 2-0 advantage early into the second period of the Sunday matchup against the Devils, but it was short-lived. New Jersey would go on to score five unanswered goals to win the game, including a hat trick from Jesper Bratt. Head coach Jon Cooper called this game a “little hiccup” as Tampa Bay gets ready to face Montreal once again tonight.
"Little hiccup here, but let's strap the boots back on and go to Montreal and get some more points." #NJDvsTBL
— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) March 20, 2023
Montreal is coming off of a few days of rest in between the last time they faced the Bolts on Saturday. They have not been fighting for much lately though as they currently sit at the bottom of the stacked Atlantic division with only 60 points. They are only 1-7-2 in their last 10 games, and sport a less than mediocre record of 14-17-3 at home this season. The Lightning need to take advantage of a below average opponent tonight in the Canadiens and look for the season sweep in this fourth and final matchup this season. The Bolts have outscored Montreal 14-5 in the previous three games.
INJURIES: No injuries for the Lightning.
Canadiens defensemen Kaiden Guhle & Jordan Harris along with RW Joel Armia are considered day-to-day. A full list of Montreal players on IR can be found here.
Odds (Courtesy of FanDuel): TBL -285 ML/MTL +230 ML, O 6.5 -114/U 6.5 -106
Where to watch: Bally Sports Sun, NHL Power Play, ESPN+
Where to listen: Lightning Radio 24/7, 102.5 MHz-FM
Bell Centre, Montreal, QC
March 21, 2023, 7:00 p.m. ET