The Montreal Canadiens struggled hard to overcome a three goal deficit in Tampa Bay Monday but their efforts fell short as the hosts held on and added an empty-netter to beat the Canadiens yet again, 4-2.

Steven Stamkos scored twice for the Bolts while P.A. Parenteau and Tomas Plekanec scored for the Canadiens, who put considerable pressure on in the third period, narrowly missing the equalizer against Ben Bishop on several occasions.

The comeback attempt fizzled out however after Lars Eller was forced to hook a forward who leaped on a puck that sputtered off of Tom Gilbert's broken stick.

The Lightning remain the only team in the conference that the Canadiens have yet to beat this season as the Bolts have taken all four decisions.

Valtteri Filppula and Victor Hedman also scored for the Lightning, who have outscored Montreal 16-5 in winning all four games between the teams this season.

The two teams are now tied for the division lead with 93 points but the Canadiens continue to hold a game in hand.

Stamkos secured the win with his 39th goal, an empty-net power-play goal with 1:05 to play.

Parenteau's goal was his seventh of the season and his first goal since November 28. The Canadiens outshot the Lightning 34-33.

Carey Price is now 0-3-1, 3.30 GAA, with a .906 save percentage this season against Tampa, far below his numbers against other teams.

Coach Michel Therrien hinted that he was disappointed with the referees following the game.

"I liked our intensity. It’s the sort of game that could have gone either way. To win games you need breaks, a bit of luck, some calls. We didn’t get that it had an impact. So that was frustrating but I appreciated our effort," Therrien told a scrum of reporters following the loss.

Lightning 4, Canadiens 2

First Period

1. Tampa Bay, Filppula 12 (Hedman, Stamkos) 10:07 (pp).

2. Tampa Bay, Stamkos 38 (unassisted) 15:58.

Penalties -- Morrow TB (high-sticking) 2:21, Pateryn Mtl (high-sticking) 9:29, Prust Mtl (fighting) 12:09, Angelidis TB (fighting) 12:09, Galchenyuk Mtl (high-sticking) 15:04, Hedman TB (roughing) 15:04.

Second Period

3. Tampa Bay, Hedman 10 (Killorn, Callahan) 2:45.

4. Montreal, Plekanec 21 (Subban, Markov) 11:10 (pp).

Penalties -- Prust Mtl (goaltender interference) 6:39, Gallagher Mtl (fighting) 9:40, Namestnikov TB (fighting) 9:40, Brown TB (roughing) 10:31, De La Rose Mtl (hooking) 13:51.

Third Period

5. Montreal, Parenteau 7 (Plekanec) :34.

6. Tampa Bay, Stamkos 39 (Namestnikov, Garrison) 18:55 (en-pp).

Penalties -- Prust Mtl (fighting) 3:08, Angelidis TB (fighting) 3:08, Callahan TB (hooking) 12:58, Eller Mtl (holding) 17:38.

Shots on goal by

Montreal 12 12 10 -- 34

Tampa Bay 14 11 9 -- 34

Goal --

Power plays (goal-chances) -- Montreal: 1-4; Tampa Bay: 2-4.

at Tampa Bay.

 

-With a file from The Associated Press