If the Montreal Canadiens swept their season series against the Carolina Hurricanes, their results have been far less satisfying against Tuesday night’s opponents, the Tampa Bay Lightning. In the first two duels between the two sides this season, the Habs have been beaten by a combined score of 11-5. Once with Jakub Dobes in the net and the other with Jacob Fowler between the posts.
The Bolts now sit atop the Atlantic Division with 98 points, the same total as the Buffalo Sabres, but the Florida outfit has a game in hand. Meanwhile, the Canadiens are still in third place with 94 points, and they also have a game in hand on the Sabres. Montreal now has a six-point lead over the eighth-place team in the Eastern Conference and an eight-point lead over the ninth-place team, the Ottawa Senators. While the Sainte-Flanelle has yet to clinch a playoff spot mathematically, Moneypuck now gives Martin St-Louis and his men a 99% chance of making the spring dance.
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Neither team has confirmed who will be manning their net tonight, but all signs point to Jakub Dobes being back in the crease for the Canadiens. The Czech netminder has started two games against Jon Cooper’s men but has a 0-1-0 record with an 8.80 goals-against average and a .727 save percentage. While these are far from reassuring numbers, the Dobes that is playing for the Habs now is very different from the one who struggled at times this season. Since the trade deadline, he has a 6-2-0 record, a 1.88 GAA, and a .937 SV. Meanwhile, Fowler has a 0-0-1 record with a 3.77 GAA and a .810 SV.
At the other end of the ice, it would be surprising if Andrei Vasilevskiy wasn’t between the posts. The Russian netminder has an excellent record against the Canadiens with a 16-3-2 record, a 2.08 GAA, and a .931 SV. As for backup Jonas Johansson, he’s 4-2-0 when facing Montreal with a 3.79 GAA and a .875 SV.
The Canadiens had a day off yesterday, so there’s no indication as to what their lineup could look like on Tuesday night, but they will hold a morning skate at 11:30. While Martin St-Louis no longer divulges his lineup ahead of games, we’ll at least know if Josh Anderson is over his virus if he is present. The Habs also called up Adam Engstrom on Monday, and he joined the team in the evening. The Canadiens announced on Tuesday morning that Alexandre Carrier would be out for two to four weeks with an upper-body injury, which explains the move. Montreal has now used two of its five available call-ups for the rest of the season. It will be interesting to see who plays between Arber Xhekaj and Engstrom.
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Brendan Gallagher is the Canadiens’ most productive forward against the Bolts with 19 points in 39 games, but none of those points came this season. Phillip Danault has 14 points in 28 games, and Nick Suzuki wraps up the top three with 13 points in 20 games. The team’s top scorers against Tampa this season have, however, been Juraj Slafkovsky and Ivan Demidov, who both notched three points in two games.
As for Cole Caufield, he has seven points in 14 duels with Tampa, but he is on fire right now and is eyeing the 50-goal mark and perhaps even a Rocket Richard Trophy win. The sniper now has 46 goals on the season and only trails Nathan MacKinnon by three goals since the Colorado Avalanche superstar added a 49th goal to his tally in the Avs’ 9-2 triumph over the Calgary Flames on Monday night.
Meanwhile, Victor Hedman leads the Lightning with 51 points in 52 games against the Canadiens, but he stepped away from the team for personal reasons on March 25, and he has yet to return. Nikita Kucherov is not far behind with 48 points in 40 games, but he has missed the last two games with an illness. Should he be unable to suit up, the Canadiens certainly wouldn’t complain, as he also has four points in two games against them this season. Brayden Point comes in third with 27 points in 31 games, and the top line center is healthy and ready to go.
The Bolts are 7-2-1 in their last 10 games and are on a two-game winning streak, while the Canadiens are 7-3-0 and have a five-game regulation winning streak going. The Bolts have won seven of the last ten games between the two sides, including the last three tilts, and the Canadiens’ last win in Tampa dates back to December 29, 2024.
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The game is set for 7:00 PM, and you can catch it on The Spot, TSN2, and RDS. Jean Hebert and Brandon Blandina will officiate, while Jonny Murray and Jonathan Deschamps will be the linemen. The Habs and Bolts will meet one last time this season on April 9 in Montreal.
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