Montreal Canadiens play host to Tampa Bay Lightning in their fourth and final meeting of the season
The third game of Thursday will be hosted by Montreal Canadiens as they are up against Tampa Bay Lightning in the fourth and final meeting between them during the course of the season.
Out of the three games that have taken place so far between the two teams, Lightning won the first two games, 4-3 and 4-1, respectively.
However, in their last and most recent meeting, Canadiens came up with a dominating performance, stomping the yard and winning the game by 4-2 in the end.
The Southeast Division title race is still tough with Lightning having a chance to win it if they start to come up with some decent and winning results.
Lightning are facing some tough times of their own as they have won only four of their last 10 games.
Canadiens, on the other hand, are in sublime form as they have won seven out of their last 10 games and are chasing Boston Bruins for the Northeast Division lead.
Canadiens were struggling in the middle part of the season and dropped quite a few points but then they stepped up their pace and managed to notch up some brilliant results.
They clicked at the right time and now they are one of the hottest teams in the league. With the results they have piled up recently have not only got them back in the running for the playoffs but now they are regarded as one of the strong teams with the
playoffs starting in less than a month’s time.
Canadiens came up with a decent performance and won the game against Pittsburgh Penguins but they lost the game against Capitals by 4-2.
"We could have stolen one tonight," left wing, Michael Cammalleri, said. "[Habs goalie Carey Price was] the biggest reason and we had some almost-chances and I just think it was probably indicative of our game overall, just not good enough everywhere and
one of those areas was capitalizing on offensive chances."
Canadiens have played 70 games during the course of the season out which they have won 38 games in regulation time and seven games in overtime to score a total of 83 points.
On the other hand, Lightning have also played 70 games during the course out of which they have won 39 games in regulation time and nine games in overtime to score a total of 87 points.
Lightning was going through some tough times and lost the game against Florida Panthers but they managed a comeback with a decent performance which saw them winning against Toronto Maple Leafs by 4-2.
"We've been emphasizing this type of play for the last three games," Lightning’s assistant coach, Wayne Fleming, said following the win over Toronto. "Our plan was to be direct to the net and strong on the puck."
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