TBL@MTL: Five things you need to know

MONTREAL - Here are five things you need to know ahead of Tuesday's game against the Tampa Bay Lightning at the Bell Centre.

1. The Canadiens are coming off a pivotal 3-1 win over the Jets in Winnipeg in which they fired 43 shots at Winnipeg netminder Connor Hellebuyck on Saturday. Joel Armia opened the scoring on the power play against his former team, while Jeff Petry set a new career high in goals and game-winning goals with the deciding tally and Jordan Weal added an empty-netter. With three games left this season, Petry is just two game-winners away from tying for most by a defenseman in a campaign.

2. The win allowed the Canadiens to stay alive in their fight for a playoff spot. They now sit one point outside of Wild Card position. After winning both games of their weekend back-to-back set, the Columbus Blue Jackets now hold the first Wild Card spot with 94 points. The Carolina Hurricanes, for their part, split their back-to-back and are now in the second Wild Card seat with 93 points, while the Canadiens are just on the outside looking in with 92 points. The good news is that both Columbus and Carolina no longer hold a game in hand on Montreal, so the Habs know exactly where they stand heading into the final week of the season.
3. On Sunday, the Canadiens announced that they had signed prospects Cayden Primeau and Ryan Poehling to entry-level contracts starting next season. While Primeau will report to the AHL's Laval Rocket, Poehling will be spending the rest of the year with the Habs and he was scheduled to arrive in town on Monday night. Don't expect to see him in the lineup on Tuesday, however. The Canadiens held an optional morning skate on Tuesday. During his media op, head coach Claude Julien told reporters that Paul Byron was good to go against Tampa. Julien said he'd be sticking with the lines he used at practice on Monday, meaning Jordan Weal would center a third line between Jonathan Drouin and Joel Armia, while the fourth line would feature Jesperi Kotkaniemi on left wing, Nate Thompson at center, and Byron on the right.

4. As for the Lightning, they needed the second-fewest games (73) to clinch the President's Trophy and are just three wins shy of setting a new mark for most in a season, a record currently held by the 1995-96 Detroit Red Wings. Tampa Bay is playing the second game of a back-to-back after beating the Ottawa Senators 5-2 on Monday in the nation's capital. Both Victor Hedman and Louis Domingue are day-to-day with upper- and lower-body injuries, respectively, and the Lightning called up goaltender Edward Pasquale from the AHL's Syracuse Crunch to fill in for Domingue. Pasquale backed up Andrei Vasilevskiy at the Canadian Tire Centre and will get the start against the Habs. Hedman, for his part, won't play.
5. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at the Bell Centre. You can catch all the action on TSN2 and RDS on television, and on TSN 690 and 98,5 fm on the radio. For tickets,
click here
.