CANADIENS (31-19-7) at LIGHTNING (43-11-4) 7 p.m. ET; NHLN, CITY, SNE, TVAS, SUN, NHL.TV
Tampa Bay is 6-0-2 in its past eight games and leads the NHL with 90 points. The Lightning have outscored opponents 22-9 in during their winning streak. Montreal is 8-2-2 in its past 12 games and has the first wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference, two points ahead of the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Players to Watch
Canadiens goalie Carey Price is 7-1-1 with a shutout and a .941 save percentage in his past nine starts. Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov has 11 points (four goals, seven assists) during a three-game point streak and leads the NHL with 92 points (26 goals, 66 assists) in 58 games.
They said it
"We know we've got a tough test ahead of us, we're playing a really good hockey team. But we know if we play to our strengths we give ourselves a shot every night. It's always a fast-paced hockey game here. It's going to be fun." -- Canadiens forward Brendan Gallagher "We continue to look at a lot of areas of our game and continue to improve. That's a great sign that our group is understanding that we can keep getting better and we're never satisfied." -- Lightning defenseman Ryan McDonagh
Both teams practiced Friday and had optional skates Saturday morning. …Weber did not practice Friday for body maintenance, but skated Saturday and he is expected to be in the lineup. …Cernak missed the past two games (lower body) but is expected to return Saturday.
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Stat Pack
Drouin has nine points (three goals, six assists) in the past five games. …Point has eight points (two goals, six assists) on a four-game point streak. …Danault has seven points (three goals, four assists) in the past six games. …Stamkos has eight points (four goals, four assists) on a four-game point streak.
