On the other hand, the Lightning did number of things well in this game. At the top of the list were their team defense and third period play. That's significant because recently, those have been areas of concern for the Lightning.
Aside from some isolated turnovers that led to a few odd-man rush chances for the Canadiens, the Lightning defended very well. They ended up holding Montreal to under 30 shots (over 65 minutes), did a nice job of keeping the Canadiens' scoring chances to a minimum and held the Habs to just two goals.
The Lightning's third period was especially strong. Not only did they rally from a 2-1 deficit and "win" the period, they successfully killed off two critical penalties. One of those occurred when they were still down by a goal and the other came late in regulation when the score was tied.
For that third period, Jon Cooper moved J.T. Miller onto a line with Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov. Miller sparked that line in the third - and his forechecking pressure forced the Montreal turnover that led to Kucherov's tying goal.
In the shootout, Brayden Point and Kucherov provided goals while Louis Domingue stopped three of four Montreal attempts, helping the Lightning rally for their fifth consecutive win. They have now reached 100 points for the season.
As the homestand continues and the regular season winds down, the Lightning want to keep building on the strong areas of their game that they displayed against the Canadiens.
Lightning Radio Big Moment of the Game (as selected by Phil Esposito):
Kucherov's tying goal.
Lightning Radio Three Stars of the Game (as selected by Phil Esposito):
1. Brayden Point - Lightning. Shootout goal.
2. Louis Domingue - Lightning. 27 saves.
3. Antti Niemi - Canadiens. 32 saves.
