Brayden Point scored in regulation and netted the shootout winner as the visiting Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the Montreal Canadiens 4-3 on Saturday to take top spot in the NHL.

Nikita Kucherov and Ryan Callahan also scored in regulation time for the Lightning (42-17-3), who have won three in a row. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 29 saves for his league-leading 36th win of the season.

Byron Froese, Joe Morrow and Max Pacioretty scored for Montreal (23-29-9). Antti Niemi, making his second straight start in relief of the injured Carey Price, stopped 36-of-39 shots in defeat. Price is sidelined indefinitely with a concussion.

Montreal fought off Morrow's two-minute high-sticking penalty in overtime to force a shootout, where Point beat Niemi top shelf for the shootout's only goal.

Tomas Plekanec, for precautionary reasons, was a healthy scratch. The Canadiens are expected to trade their veteran centre, the team's longest serving active player, before Monday's trade deadline.

Jacob de la Rose centered the third line in Plekanec's absence.

Froese opened the scoring for the home team by deflecting Jordie Benn's shot from the blue line past Vasilevskiy at 8:52 of the first period.

Tampa equalized when Point entered the zone with speed, crossed up defencemen Benn and Morrow before beating Niemi blocker side at 12:07.

Kucherov gave Tampa Bay a 2-1 lead at 7:32 of the second period, on the power play, to extend his point streak to nine games. Kucherov went five-hole on Niemi with a one-timer for his team-leading 33rd goal of the year.

Less than two minutes later, Morrow levelled the score with a precise wrist shot through traffic off the post and in.

Pacioretty, with the man advantage, ended an 11-game goalless drought to give Montreal a 3-2 lead at 16:29 of the second period. The Canadiens captain jumped on a rebound in the slot for his first goal since Jan. 25.

Pacioretty failed to score on two breakaways to end the middle frame. He missed another breakaway opportunity in overtime.

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.

The Lightning have the second-best power play in the NHL. They finished 2 for 5 with the extra skater.

Steven Stamkos dropped the gloves with Karl Alzner in the first period. He was given 17 minutes of penalties on the play.

Notes: Kucherov has 16 points in his last nine games. It was the third of four meetings between the Canadiens and Lightning this season.