Tampa Bay Wins Stanley Cup Rematch, 5-4 in Overtime

On Tuesday night, the Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the Montreal Canadiens 5-4 in overtime. Brayden Point returned from injury on Tuesday night to help the Bolts improve their record to 21-6-4. Meanwhile, the Canadiens remain one of the worst teams in the league with a 7-21-4 record.

Game Recap

Eight and a half minutes into the first, Montreal got the first advantage of the game. Although the Habs could not score on the power play, Lukas Vejdemo tallied a goal shortly after for the lead. Brayden Point lost Kale Clague on a two-on-one a minute later, and sniped Sam Montembeault to tie the game. Point was not done just yet, as two and a half minutes later he added Tampa Bay’s second. The first period ended 2-1 in favor of the Bolts.

To open the middle frame, Rafael Harvey-Pinard scored his first career NHL goal to tie the game at two. Six minutes later, Ross Colton reclaimed the lead for Tampa Bay off of Stamkos’ 22nd assist on the year. Also, each team had three man advantages in the second period but neither could capitalize. After two, the Lightning led the Canadiens 3-2 and led shots 27-19.

The third period began with Kale Clague’s first career NHL goal to tie the game at three. Roughly seven minutes later, former-bolt David Savard scored to grab a Habs lead, 4-3. With an empty net to end the game, the Lightning desperately needed to score a goal to send the game to overtime and grab at least one point. On the six on five, none other than former Canadien Corey Perry scored the game-tying goal for Tampa Bay. With 20 seconds remaining, the game was tied at four and this result held to send the game to overtime.

36 seconds into overtime and on the second shot, Ondrej Palat won the game for Tampa Bay. His tenth goal of the season gave the Lightning their second win against the Canadiens this season.

Up Next

Tampa Bay will head down to Sunrise, Florida for their next game against the Florida Panthers. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 PM EST on Thursday, December 30th.

(Featured image by Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports)