MONTREAL _ The Lightning started off strong and then held off the Canadiens amidst increased pressure in the third period, once again looking like the Stanley Cup contender.
Consistency and defensive responsibility have both been issues early in the season, but the team largely addressed both of those in Tuesday's 3- 1 win over Montreal. The Canadiens scored first when Jeff Petry beat Andrei Vasilevskiy from the top of the left circle on a feed from Max Domi.aThat lead stood for four minutes before the Lightning tied it courtesy of an unlikely source. Braydon Coburn goes whole games without putting a shot on net but he had two in one shift. He carried the puck down low and took a shot from the bottom of the right circle, but Carey Price made the save.
Coburn cycled back up and then ended up at the top of the slot when Nikita Kucherov tried to set up Steven Stamkos. Unable to get the shot off with Jonathan Drouin all over him, Stamkos sent the puck over to Coburn. This time, Coburn's shot landed his first goal of the year.
Stamkos put the Lightning on top a minute into the second period. He scored a power-play one-timer from the left circle, set up by Victor Hedman.
Tyler Johnson added to the lead 57 seconds after that with a goal from the right circle, assisted by Ondrej Palat, giving the Lightning a 3-1 lead.
Erik Cernak, playing in the top pair with Hedman for the first time, had a strong game. He threw his body around, delivering hits and came up with a big blocked shot in the second period.
Anthony Cirelli lived up to his reputation for defensive responsibility, getting back to knock away a loose puck, preventing what could have been an open, close-range shot.
The Canadiens' third-period push came more from a team looking to create chances from the Lightning stepping back defensively. Though, Tampa Bay did take two penalties, which didn't help matters.
Montreal poured on 13 shots in the third period, more any other period but not an unmanageable number. Vasilevskiy stood strong in net through a few scrambles in the crease. He managed to keep the puck out in an instance where the scramble almost pushed him (and the puck) into the net.
