MTL@TBL: Postgame
The first of two games for the Canadiens in the Sunshine State this week didn't go as planned
by Matt Cudzinowski @CanadiensMTL / canadiens.com
TAMPA - Minus Tomas Tatar and Brendan Gallagher, the Canadiens fell 4-0 to the Lightning on Thursday night.
The loss snapped the Habs' two-game winning streak and marked the first time they were blanked this season.
Coming off a big road win over the New York Islanders, Claude Julien's players were ready to get down to business again at Amalie Arena.
A little soccer and some basketball were on the menu for the boys to get their legs going in the Sunshine State.
For his part, defenseman Christian Folin was a big fan of the rink's song selections during the pregame festivities.
As per usual, plenty of Canadiens fans jammed the building in support of Julien's squad.
When it was finally time for puck drop, the Lightning wasted little time getting on the board.
Defenseman Victor Hedman scored just 49 seconds into the first period, beating goaltender Carey Price with a wrist shot from the slot.
It certainly wasn't the start the Canadiens envisioned heading into the encounter.
Twelve minutes later, left-winger Alex Killorn put the Lightning up 2-0, beating Price to cap an odd-man rush.
That's the way things stood after 20 minutes.
There were no goals to report in the second period until the frame was 18:55 old.
That's when Nikita Kucherov found the back of the net to give the Lightning a 3-0 lead.
Kucherov tipped a feed from Pat Maroon home to put Tampa Bay in firm control of the encounter.
Hedman added a power play goal in the third period. It was his second marker of the game.
Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy made 32 saves to earn the shutout.
The Canadiens will be back in action on Saturday night against the Florida Panthers at the BB&T Center to close out their three-game road trip.