Tampa Bay @ Montreal preview

Last Meeting ( Dec 28, 2019 ) Montreal 4, Tampa Bay 5

The Tampa Bay Lightning have climbed back into a playoff position for the first time since October and hope to remain there while attempting to extend their season-high winning streak to five games Thursday night at the Montreal Canadiens. The Lightning won three straight at home, sandwiching the Christmas break, before rallying from a three-goal deficit to beat Buffalo 6-4 on Tuesday.

“I think just emotionally we weren’t really in the game for some reason. …,” Tampa Bay left wing Alex Killorn told reporters after scoring twice Tuesday. “I think looking at (Mikhail) Sergachev’s fight (in the second period), even though they scored right after, it kind of galvanized the group. … And then the third period, we really took over.” The Lightning aim to extend their winning streak against Atlantic Division foes to 13 (14-2-0 overall) and remain in third place behind Boston and Toronto, while the Canadiens aim to beat Tampa Bay for the first time this season after dropping the first two encounters - including a 5-4 loss Thursday. Montreal has allowed 14 goals during a three-game slide after falling 3-1 at Carolina on Tuesday, and may have lost more than that as second-leading scorer Brendan Gallagher left the contest when teammate Ben Chiarot’s knee appeared to collide with his head. “He’s a heart-and-soul guy for our team, and it’s tough to see him go down like that,” Chiarot told reporters of Gallagher. “He’s not a guy that lays on the ice unless he’s really hurt, so hopefully he’s not doing too bad.”

TIME: 7 p.m. ET. TV: FS Sun, RDS, TSN2

ABOUT THE LIGHTNING (21-13-4): Sergachev, who won a decision in his fight with Buffalo’s Jake McCabe on Tuesday, registered an assist to push his point total to 20 but his status is uncertain for Thursday after leaving late in the game with a hand injury from blocking a shot. Killorn tied Brayden Point for the team lead with 15 goals - four from his career high - and has seven points along with a plus-6 rating in his last four contests. Left wing Ondrej Palat boasts three goals and eight points over the past six games while right wing Nikita Kucherov tops the team with 41 points - but has only one in the past three contests.

ABOUT THE CANADIENS (18-16-6): Center Max Domi scored for the sixth consecutive contest Tuesday - the longest streak for a Montreal player since Max Pacioretty accomplished the feat in 2015 - and has six goals along with four assists during his seven-game point run. Gallagher’s 32 points is second only to left wing Tomas Tatar (35), who has three goals and two assists in the past four contests, and one more than All-Star defenseman Shea Weber. Former Vezina Trophy winner Carey Price will likely be back in net after being rested Tuesday and has allowed 11 goals in his last two starts to see his save percentage fall to .901.

OVERTIME

1. The Canadiens are also missing key Fs Paul Byron (knee), Jonathan Drouin (wrist) and Joel Armia (upper body).

2. Tampa Bay captain F Steven Stamkos has one goal and five assists during his four-game point streak.

3. Montreal is 7-for-16 on the power play over its last seven games while the Lightning are 6-for-14 with the man advantage the past four contests.

PREDICTION: Lightning 4, Canadiens 2