Max Pacioretty leads Montreal Canadiens to 4-2 win over Tampa Bay Lightning
Max Pacioretty lit the lamp twice to lift the Montreal Canadiens to a 4-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning at St. Pete Times Forum on Saturday night.
Hal Gill and David Desharnais each also notched a goal for the Canadiens, who have won four consecutive games, including three on the road. Montreal are now in sixth place in the East, just two points behind Tampa Bay.
Montreal Captain Brian Gionta picked up an assist in his 600th National Hockey League (NHL) game and Carey Price was solid between the pipes, turning away 43 shots to earn the victory.
Vincent Lecavalier and Dominic Moore both found the net for the Southeast Division-leading Tampa Bay, who suffered their third straight loss. Dwayne Roloson made 19 saves in the losing effort.
Montreal drew first blood to take a 1-0 lead just five and a half minutes into the opening stanza, as Gill ripped a slap shot from the point which squeezed between Roloson’s legs.
Gill said about the goal, "It's nice to help out, you get lucky shoot at the net and it goes in. It's always fun to score. I'd love to do more, but I have to focus on other things."
The Canadiens cashed in on a power play for a two-goal edge at 2-0, nearly three minutes later. The goal came when Desharnais received a pass from Andrei Kostitsyn from behind the net, switched to the backhand and fired the puck past Roloson's left pad.
“It didn’t surprise me, it shocked me,” Tampa Bay Coach Guy Boucher said of his team’s slow start. “Everything we do now falls on everybody, whether we’ve got two guys that are out there asleep or whether we’ve got one or 15.”
Moore and Pacioretty then traded power-play goals in the second period for Montreal. Moore cut the deficit in half at 2-1, just one and a half minutes into the middle session.
Pacioretty then restored Montreal’s two-goal lead at 3-1, with six minutes left in the second frame. He struck again to make it a 4-1 game early in the final frame, as he stuffed home a pass from Scott Gomez.
Montreal Coach Jacques Martin praised Max Pacioretty's performance after the game. He said, “Our two power plays were huge. I think that two goals from him (Pacioretty) were huge, and a huge factor in the game. He really stepped up.”
Lecavalier accounted for the final scoring at 4-2 with nearly six minutes left in the game. The Lightning failed to find an equaliser during the rest of the play.
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