National Hockey League
Montreal 5, Tampa Bay 2
When: 5:00 PM ET, Sunday, December 29, 2024
Where: Amalie Arena, Tampa, Florida
Referees: Michael Markovic, Corey Syvret
Linesmen: Kilian McNamara, Ben O'Quinn
Attendance: 19092

Jake Evans scored in his fifth straight game, Alexandre Carrier had two assists and the visiting Montreal Canadiens beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-2 on Sunday.

Evans delivered the eventual game-winner to put Montreal up 3-1 with 1:32 left in the second period. Tampa Bay's Nikita Kucherov answered 26 seconds later, but Joel Armia and Brendan Gallagher each scored in the third to seal the Canadiens' fifth win in six games.

Sam Montembeault stopped 21 shots as Montreal improved to 2-1-0 on its season-long six-game road trip. The Canadiens beat the Panthers 4-0 on Saturday in the first game of their Florida back-to-back.

Alex Newhook and Christian Dvorak also scored for Montreal, which killed all three Lightning power plays while allowing just one shot.

Brandon Hagel also scored for Tampa Bay and Jonas Johansson made 32 saves. Lightning left winger Jake Guentzel, second on the team with 20 goals, was scratched before the game and replaced on the top line by Cam Atkinson.

The Canadiens went up 1-0 at 12:07 in the first when Newhook buried Mike Matheson's feed to end his eight-game goal drought.

The home side jumped out fast in the second period when Hagel stole a poked pass by Carrier, skated in on Montembeault and delivered the equalizer on the glove side just 37 seconds in.

Montreal regained the lead at 12:34 when Kaiden Guhle sent a long shot through traffic that clipped Dvorak for a 2-1 lead.

About six minutes later, Evans capitalized on a two-on-one when he rang in a shot off the post for a two-goal cushion. Kucherov tucked in a puck behind Montembeault to cut it to 3-2 with 1:06 left in the second.

Tampa Bay started slowly in the third as Montreal fired the first seven shots.

The Canadiens finally broke through behind their fourth line, with Emil Heineman outworking defenseman Nick Perbix before to Armia, who finished off a two-on-zero break at 12:32.

Gallagher potted a goal into the empty net with 1:52 remaining to close the scoring.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Montreal   Tampa Bay
Joel Armia 2 Points Brandon Hagel 1
Joel Armia 1 Goals Brandon Hagel 1
Alexandre Carrier 2 Assists Brayden Point 1
N/A Power Play Goals N/A
N/A Short Handed Goals N/A
Sam Montembeault .913 Save Percentage Jonas Johansson .889
Sam Montembeault 21 Saves Jonas Johansson 32
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
Montreal 37 5 0-2 3-3 6 34
Tampa Bay 23 2 0-3 2-2 4 30
Upcoming Games
  • Tampa Bay will play their next game on the road against San Jose. The Lightning have a W/L % of .550 after a win and .643 after a loss.
  • Montreal will play their next game on the road against Vegas. The Canadiens have a W/L % of .400 after a win and .476 after a loss.