TAMPA
Markus Granlund Jersey , Fla. (AP) — It was a pair of players in their first full NHL season that sent the Tampa Bay Lightning to their latest victory.Mathieu Joseph and Anthony Cirelli scored early in the third period and the Lightning won their fifth consecutive game by beating the Boston Bruins 3-2 on Thursday night.“It’s hard to play with a team with four lines rolling like this,” Joseph said. “We’re a team that has a lot of depth and it’s huge.”After Joseph scored at 2:40, Cirelli put home a short-handed backhand 1:23 later to make it 3-1.Lightning star Steven Stamkos didn’t get an assist on Cirelli’s goal but played a key role by swatting the puck out of danger in the defensive zone with his glove after losing his stick. The puck went to Cirelli off a Boston player.“I just saw a chance and went for it,” Cirelli said.Boston pulled to 3-2 on David Krejci’s goal with 1:45 remaining.Brayden Point also scored and Louis Domingue made 33 saves for the Lightning, who have the NHL’s best record at 22-7-1.David Pastrnak had a goal for Boston, and Tuukka Rask stopped 27 shots. The Bruins have lost three in a row and four of five.Boston was coming off a dismal 5-0 loss Tuesday night at Florida.“Tonight is a little more disappointing (than frustrating), to be honest with you,” Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said. “We were right there.”Point got his 21st goal, including seven over his last eight games
Michael Del Zotto Jersey , to tie it 1-all with 5:01 left in the first. Nikita Kucherov set up the goal with a backhand pass and has 20 assists and 25 points in his last 12 games.Pastrnak got his 20th goal in his 28th game this season on a rebound 2:04 in. Jaromir Jagr — on four occasions — is the only Czech-born player to reach the 20-goal mark in fewer games.Domingue made a pad save on a late first-period breakaway by Pastrnak, who went to his backhand.“I was pretty lucky,” Domingue said. “I probably should have known that he didn’t have the room to cut to his forehand. Sometimes you’ve got to be lucky to be good.”Pastrnak also had an assist.Boston activated defenseman Charlie McAvoy, who had been sidelined since Oct. 20 due to a concussion. The injury-depleted Bruins are still without center Patrice Bergeron (ribs), and defensemen Zdeno Chara (lower body), Kevan Miller (throat) and Urho Vaakanainen (concussion).“We weren’t quite there yet, but much better than Florida,” Cassidy said. “We had a few passengers. You can’t afford that against the No. 1 team.”NOTES: Krejci tied Bruins president Cam Neely for 10th place in team history with 590 points. Neely was at the game. … The Bruins claimed forward Gemel Smith off waivers from Dallas, sent D Connor Clifton to Providence of the AHL and placed Miller on injured reserve. Miller
Sam Gagner Jersey , hurt on Nov. 26, will be re-evaluated in four weeks. … Tampa Bay D Anton Stralman (upper body) missed his 14th straight game and is not practicing. His status is being reviewed on a weekly basis.UP NEXTBruins: Return home to play Toronto on Saturday night.Lightning: Host the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday night. MONTREAL (AP) Brayden Point scored in regulation and added the shootout winner and the Tampa Bay Lightning regained the top spot in the NHL with a 4-3 victory over the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night.Nikita Kucherov and Ryan Callahan also scored in regulation to help the Lightning (42-17-3) win their third straight and move a point ahead of idle Vegas for the overall NHL lead.Andrei Vasilevskiy made 29 saves for his league-leading 36th victory of the season.Steven Stamkos fought Karl Alzner in the first period after objecting to a knee-on-knee hit onh Kucherov. Stamkos was given 17 minutes of penalties on the play.”I was watching Kucherov and it looked like a knee, fast,” Stamkos said. ”And he kind of held his knee so I didn’t know if he was hurt or not. It was just kind of a reaction thing. I know Alzner well and he’s not a dirty player. It wasn’t as malicious as I thought at the time.”Byron Froese, Joe Morrow and Max Pacioretty scored for Montreal. Antti Niemi, making his second straight start in relief of the injured Carey Price, stopped 36 shots. Price is sidelined indefinitely with a concussion.Montreal fought off Morrow’s high-sticking penalty in overtime to force a shootout, where Point beat Niemi top shelf for the only goal.”We maintained a good rhythm from start to finish,” Canadiens coach Claude Julien said. ”There were some defensive mistakes that led to good scoring chances on both sides. Our goalie played a great game. Happy with the overall effort.”Montreal’s Tomas Plekanec
Womens Devante Smith-Pelly Jersey , for precautionary reasons, was a healthy scratch. The Canadiens are expected to trade the veteran center before Monday’s trade deadline. Jacob de la Rose centered the third line in Plekanec’s absence.Froese opened the scoring by deflecting Jordie Benn’s shot from the blue line past Vasilevskiy at 8:52 of the first period.Tampa tied it when Point crossed up defensemen Benn and Morrow before beating Niemi to the blocker side at 12:07.Kucherov gave Tampa Bay a 2-1 lead on a power play at 7:32 of the second period to extend his point streak to nine games. Kucherov went five-hole on Niemi with a one-timer for his team-leading 33rd goal.Less than two minutes later, Morrow tied it with a precise wrist shot through traffic and off the post.Pacioretty, with the man advantage, ended an 11-game goal drought to give Montreal a 3-2 lead at 16:29 of the second period.With Phillip Danault in the box for slashing, Callahan made it 3-3 at 2:11 of the third when he redirected Kucherov’s shot past Niemi.NOTES: The Lightning have the second-best power play in the NHL. They finished 2 for 5 with the extra skater. … Kucherov has 16 points in his last nine games.UP NEXTLightning: Host Toronto on Monday night.Canadiens: Host Philadelphia on Monday night.
TAMPA Markus Granlund Jersey , Fla. (AP) — It was a pair of players in their first full NHL season that sent the Tampa Bay Lightning to their latest victory.Mathieu Joseph and Anthony Cirelli scored early in the third period and the Lightning won their fifth consecutive game by beating the Boston Bruins 3-2 on Thursday night.“It’s hard to play with a team with four lines rolling like this,” Joseph said. “We’re a team that has a lot of depth and it’s huge.”After Joseph scored at 2:40, Cirelli put home a short-handed backhand 1:23 later to make it 3-1.Lightning star Steven Stamkos didn’t get an assist on Cirelli’s goal but played a key role by swatting the puck out of danger in the defensive zone with his glove after losing his stick. The puck went to Cirelli off a Boston player.“I just saw a chance and went for it,” Cirelli said.Boston pulled to 3-2 on David Krejci’s goal with 1:45 remaining.Brayden Point also scored and Louis Domingue made 33 saves for the Lightning, who have the NHL’s best record at 22-7-1.David Pastrnak had a goal for Boston, and Tuukka Rask stopped 27 shots. The Bruins have lost three in a row and four of five.Boston was coming off a dismal 5-0 loss Tuesday night at Florida.“Tonight is a little more disappointing (than frustrating), to be honest with you,” Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said. “We were right there.”Point got his 21st goal, including seven over his last eight games Michael Del Zotto Jersey , to tie it 1-all with 5:01 left in the first. Nikita Kucherov set up the goal with a backhand pass and has 20 assists and 25 points in his last 12 games.Pastrnak got his 20th goal in his 28th game this season on a rebound 2:04 in. Jaromir Jagr — on four occasions — is the only Czech-born player to reach the 20-goal mark in fewer games.Domingue made a pad save on a late first-period breakaway by Pastrnak, who went to his backhand.“I was pretty lucky,” Domingue said. “I probably should have known that he didn’t have the room to cut to his forehand. Sometimes you’ve got to be lucky to be good.”Pastrnak also had an assist.Boston activated defenseman Charlie McAvoy, who had been sidelined since Oct. 20 due to a concussion. The injury-depleted Bruins are still without center Patrice Bergeron (ribs), and defensemen Zdeno Chara (lower body), Kevan Miller (throat) and Urho Vaakanainen (concussion).“We weren’t quite there yet, but much better than Florida,” Cassidy said. “We had a few passengers. You can’t afford that against the No. 1 team.”NOTES: Krejci tied Bruins president Cam Neely for 10th place in team history with 590 points. Neely was at the game. … The Bruins claimed forward Gemel Smith off waivers from Dallas, sent D Connor Clifton to Providence of the AHL and placed Miller on injured reserve. Miller Sam Gagner Jersey , hurt on Nov. 26, will be re-evaluated in four weeks. … Tampa Bay D Anton Stralman (upper body) missed his 14th straight game and is not practicing. His status is being reviewed on a weekly basis.UP NEXTBruins: Return home to play Toronto on Saturday night.Lightning: Host the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday night. MONTREAL (AP) Brayden Point scored in regulation and added the shootout winner and the Tampa Bay Lightning regained the top spot in the NHL with a 4-3 victory over the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night.Nikita Kucherov and Ryan Callahan also scored in regulation to help the Lightning (42-17-3) win their third straight and move a point ahead of idle Vegas for the overall NHL lead.Andrei Vasilevskiy made 29 saves for his league-leading 36th victory of the season.Steven Stamkos fought Karl Alzner in the first period after objecting to a knee-on-knee hit onh Kucherov. Stamkos was given 17 minutes of penalties on the play.”I was watching Kucherov and it looked like a knee, fast,” Stamkos said. ”And he kind of held his knee so I didn’t know if he was hurt or not. It was just kind of a reaction thing. I know Alzner well and he’s not a dirty player. It wasn’t as malicious as I thought at the time.”Byron Froese, Joe Morrow and Max Pacioretty scored for Montreal. Antti Niemi, making his second straight start in relief of the injured Carey Price, stopped 36 shots. Price is sidelined indefinitely with a concussion.Montreal fought off Morrow’s high-sticking penalty in overtime to force a shootout, where Point beat Niemi top shelf for the only goal.”We maintained a good rhythm from start to finish,” Canadiens coach Claude Julien said. ”There were some defensive mistakes that led to good scoring chances on both sides. Our goalie played a great game. Happy with the overall effort.”Montreal’s Tomas Plekanec Womens Devante Smith-Pelly Jersey , for precautionary reasons, was a healthy scratch. The Canadiens are expected to trade the veteran center before Monday’s trade deadline. Jacob de la Rose centered the third line in Plekanec’s absence.Froese opened the scoring by deflecting Jordie Benn’s shot from the blue line past Vasilevskiy at 8:52 of the first period.Tampa tied it when Point crossed up defensemen Benn and Morrow before beating Niemi to the blocker side at 12:07.Kucherov gave Tampa Bay a 2-1 lead on a power play at 7:32 of the second period to extend his point streak to nine games. Kucherov went five-hole on Niemi with a one-timer for his team-leading 33rd goal.Less than two minutes later, Morrow tied it with a precise wrist shot through traffic and off the post.Pacioretty, with the man advantage, ended an 11-game goal drought to give Montreal a 3-2 lead at 16:29 of the second period.With Phillip Danault in the box for slashing, Callahan made it 3-3 at 2:11 of the third when he redirected Kucherov’s shot past Niemi.NOTES: The Lightning have the second-best power play in the NHL. They finished 2 for 5 with the extra skater. … Kucherov has 16 points in his last nine games.UP NEXTLightning: Host Toronto on Monday night.Canadiens: Host Philadelphia on Monday night.