Montreal Canadiens (18-39-11, eighth in the Atlantic) vs. Tampa Bay Lightning (43-18-6, second in the Atlantic)
Tampa, Florida; Saturday, 7 p.m. EDT
LINE: Lightning -340, Canadiens +264; over/under is 6.5
BOTTOM LINE: Montreal will try to break its three-game skid when the Canadiens play Tampa Bay.
The Lightning are 12-6-1 against the rest of their division. Tampa Bay is ninth in the NHL averaging 3.3 goals per game, led by Steven Stamkos with 31.
The Canadiens are 7-10-3 against the rest of their division. Montreal scores 2.5 goals per game, the least in the Eastern Conference. Nick Suzuki leads the team with 18 total goals.
Tampa Bay took down Montreal 5-4 in the last meeting between these teams on Dec. 28. Brayden Point scored two goals for the Lightning in the win.
TOP PERFORMERS: Pierre-Edouard Bellemare leads the Lightning with a plus-22 in 66 games this season. Nikita Kucherov has nine assists over the last 10 games for Tampa Bay.
Suzuki leads the Canadiens with 32 total assists and has 50 points. Cole Caufield has six goals over the last 10 games for Montreal.
LAST 10 GAMES: Lightning: 6-4-0, averaging 2.7 goals, 4.8 assists, 5.5 penalties and 12.1 penalty minutes while giving up two goals per game with a .935 save percentage.
Canadiens: 3-4-3, averaging three goals, 5.2 assists, four penalties and eight penalty minutes while allowing 3.3 goals per game with a .911 save percentage.
INJURIES: Lightning: Ryan McDonagh: out (upper-body).
Canadiens: Brendan Gallagher: out (lower body), Jeff Petry: out (lower body), Michael Pezzetta: day to day (upper body).
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