Nate Thompson snapped home a pass to score his second of the game late in overtime to give the Tampa Bay Lightning a 2-1 win over the Montreal Canadiens at the Bell Centre Saturday.
Thompson netted the goal on a quick shot from just outside of Carey Price's crease on a feed from Victor Hedman who swooped up a puck that had bounced off the boards behind the Canadien's net.
It was the third straight game between the two clubs that ended 2-1 in overtime this season, with the Lightning now holding a two-to-one advantage.
The goal was scored with just 24 seconds remaining on the clock before a potential shootout and went against the run of play, as the Canadiens had spent most of the overtime buzzing around the Tampa net, with P.K. Subban providing many of the scoring opportunities by evading several checks by spinning around opponents on multipe occasions.
Daniel Briere had evened the score to put the game into overtime by shooting a high wrister from the dot midway through the third period to draw the Habs even at one with the Lightning.The goal, Briere's ninth, came from a cross-ice feed from Brian Gionta at 7:25 of the third and was his second in two games.
The Lightning took a 1-0 lead over the Canadiens in the second period after a puck bounced off of P.K. Subban's stick into the net behind Carey Price.
The Canadiens were on a powerplay when Subban reached to intercept the cross-crease pass, only to see it bounce off his stick and slide through Price's pads.
Nate Thompson was credited with his fourth of the season on the goal and assists went to Victor Hedman and J.T. Brown at 5:58 of the second frame. The goal ended a 50-save run by Carey Price.
The game was a tight-checking fractious affair which included a 12-player melee in the second period that started when Ben Bishop reacted to a comment from Brandon Prust and went after the Canadiens' forward. No serious fights ensued but both teams were hit with a series of penalties, which included a 10-minute misconduct to George Parros for tossing his elbow pad at Radko Gudas.
The Canadiens got off to a slow start, as the visitors controlled most of the play in the early going and narrowly missed on a breakaway and subsequent penalty shot.
Nikita Kucherov, a 20 year-old Russian rookie from the Quebec juniors, was hampered from behind by Nathan Beaulieu on a breakaway that Habs’ goaltender Carey Price turned away.
Khucherov was awarded a penalty shot and cruised down on Price’s left and shot low on the blocker side, which Price stopped easily.
Khucherov, who has scored eight goals and six assists in 31 games for the Bolts since being called up from Syracuse in November, was a force along with linemate Alex Killorn, who was raised in Montreal.
Brendan Prust tangled early in the frame with Tampa defenceman Jean-Philippe Cote, who had previously hit Brendan Gallagher hard in the Tampa zone and both were rewarded with five-minute fighting penalties for their dance.
Another fight was narrowly averted after Radko Gudas later hit Prust from behind. George Parros and Gudas were sent off for a deuce in the ensuing melee.
Price sparkled in the loss as the Canadiens were outshot 36-29.
