Kucherov, Lightning top Canadiens in shootout

TAMPA -- The Tampa Bay Lightning became the first NHL team to reach 100 points this season when they defeated the Montreal Canadiens 3-2 in a shootout at Amalie Arena on Saturday.
Tyler Johnson and Nikita Kucherov scored, and Louis Domingue made 27 saves for the Lightning (48-17-4), who have won five straight and are 9-0-1 in their past 10 games. Tampa Bay leads the Boston Bruins by six points for first place in the Atlantic Division.

WATCH: [All Canadiens vs. Lightning highlights]
Defenseman Ryan McDonagh played his first game with Tampa Bay since being acquired in a trade with the New York Rangers on Feb. 26. He had been out since Feb. 7 with a hand injury. He was paired with Dan Girardi, his teammate for seven seasons with the Rangers.
"We played together for a handful of years," McDonagh said. "We both like to communicate with each other. We're not afraid to come back to the bench and talk to each other about how we want to play. I think as the game continued, we got comfortable together and didn't spend a lot of time in our end."
McDonagh had one shot and two blocks in 19:15.
"I really liked Ryan McDonagh's game," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. "I think he'll probably beat himself up a little bit on that second goal against, but he made an unreal play to put himself in position to be there (to intercept the pass). He was extremely noticeable on our penalty kill. His poise and composure in some situations where we may not have put pucks out, McDonagh made sure we got those pucks out."
Artturi Lehkonen and Alex Galchenyuk scored, and Antti Niemi made 32 saves for the Canadiens (25-31-12), who have lost four straight.

Kucherov scored the deciding goal in the fourth round of the shootout.
"Just a tight checking game," said Lightning forward J.T. Miller, who also came from the Rangers in the trade. "It's hard to get on the inside now. Everybody has a good gap and boxes out really well. I thought we did a good job getting out of our end. It's just really hard to get those quality looks against a team that defends really well."
Lehkonen gave the Canadiens a 1-0 lead at 4:10 of the first period with a power-play goal from the right circle after Charles Hudon's shot was blocked in front. Johnson tied it 1-1 with a power-play goal at 13:43 with a one-timer from the left circle.

Galchenyuk scored to make it 2-1 at 3:00 of the second period on a 3-on-1 after Montreal forced a turnover in the defensive zone.
"The standings don't show it, but we're working hard and we're competing," Canadiens forward Andrew Shaw said. "It [stinks] to have a lot of injuries, but guys are stepping up, working hard and doing what they can."
Kucherov tied it 2-2 at 13:43 of the third period, one-timing a pass from Steven Stamkos from in front. Kucherov leads the NHL with 88 points (34 goals, 54 assists).
"We had opportunities and power plays in the third," Canadiens forward Jonathan Drouin said. "You have to make sure to capitalize on those chances and get a two-goal lead. Especially when you're playing a team like that with so much offense and so much power."

Goal of the game

Kucherov's goal in the shootout.

Save of the game

Domingue's save on Galchenyuk at 9:04 of the second period.

Highlight of the game

Kucherov's goal at 13:43 of the third period.

They said it

"I don't want to make it sound like I'm OK with losing because I'm not and we're not, but I appreciated the effort this afternoon. I thought our guys played hard and we really pushed. At the end, we had a couple of injuries, guys not coming back for the third. The bench got short real quick and you could tell the pace of the game was starting to catch up with us." -- Canadiens coach Claude Julien
"We do have gamebreakers on our team, and a lot of teams who are high in the standings probably have those guys, but it's having them step up to the occasion when you need them. The first two periods, not too much was going on, but [the top] line really came on in the third when Miller went up there, and they deserved to get that goal." -- Lightning coach Jon Cooper

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Need to know

It's the fifth time the Lightning have reached 100 points in a season. ... Canadiens forward Charles Hudon, who had two assists, left the game in the third period after colliding into the boards with Lightning defenseman Jake Dotchin, but later returned. ... Drouin and Lightning forward Brayden Point scored in the shootout.

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What next

Canadiens: At the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday (7 p.m. ET; FS-O, TSN2, RDS, NHL.TV)
Lightning:Host the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday (7:30 p.m. ET; SUN, RDS2, TSN5, NHL.TV)