Cole Caufield’s second period goal broke a 1-1 tie and Jakub Dobes stopped 36 saves as Tampa Bay’s eight-game point streak comes to an end in a 4-1 loss to the Montreal Canadiens. Jake Guentzel had the Lightning’s lone goal while Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 19 shots, including several big saves early in the third period when the game was 2-1.
Nikita Kucherov was held off of the scoreboard (and had two penalties) in his return to action after missing two games with an illness. Scott Sabourin also returned as Oliver Bjorkstrand was scratched.
First Period:
19:09 – First stoppage of the game and the Lightning haven’t allowed a goal yet. That qualifies as a good start these days.
17:09 – Pontus Holmberg with the first real chance for the Lightning as he takes advantage of a loose puck in the neutral zone. Dobes makes a nice shoulder save, but Zemgus Girgensons draws a penalty behind the net. Brenden Gallagher (the penalty was to Jayden Struble, but he had to get some equipment fixed) to the box and the Lightning back to the power play. Time to get Nikita Kucherov going early.
14:50 – The power play ends without a goal, but several solid chances. Kucherov danced into the zone on an entry to set up a flurry of shots, but Dobes made a really nice pad save on Brayden Point off of a point shot from Branden Hagel. Good looking power play, but it’s still 0-0.
13:00 – The first T.V. time-out has arrived. It hasn’t been a clean game for the Bolts in their own zone, but they’ve done a decent job of keeping shots to the perimeter. Their recovery after failed clearance attempts has been pretty good. The only close attempt so far to get on net was Ivan Demidov coming in on a sharp angle. Vasilevskiy was tight to the post and didn’t give the rookie any room to put the puck.
10:36 – The Gourde line draws another penalty as Kaiden Guhle heads to the box for a cross-check. Holmberg took a beating, but was smart enough to cover his head while he was on the ice because Darren Raddysh was unloading a shot from the top of the slot.
10:05 – Kucherov and Noah Dobson are off to the box. Kucherov fell on Dobes “accidently” and Dobson picks up a roughing for going after Kucherov. Thirty seconds later, Jake Guentzel heads to the box for hooking. It’s time for 4-on-4 hockey!
8:57 – Lane Hutson catches Charle-Edouard D’Astous flat-footed and turns him at the blue line. Penalties are never good, but D’Astous trip of the dynamic young defenseman saved a point-blank opportunity from the Canadiens. Who needs 5-on-5 hockey?
7:35 – Slafkovsky scores on a one-timer from the bottom of the right circle. That’s a bummer. He did with one second left on a two-skater advantage, so Montreal stays on the power play for another 35 seconds.
Juraj Slafkovsky [29] (Ivan Demidov, Cole Caufield) Power Play, 1-0 Canadiens
6:19 – Well, that’s a nice response. The Lightning get the puck down into the zone after the second penalty expires. Jake Guentzel cuts back behind the net and comes out for a wraparound. Instead of trying to tuck it in on the far side he cuts it to the near post and fools Dobes.
Jake Guentzel [36] (Zemgus Girgensons, Ryan McDonagh) 1-1
3:46 – The Yanni Gourde line has been the Lightning’s best so far. Yanni with a deflection that Dobes had to make a tough save on. Natural Stat Trick has them with a 4-0 edge in shot attempts and a 3-0 advantage in scoring chances in 3:34 of 5v5 time. For the Canadiens, it’s their top line pushing the play as they are up 6-2 in attempts and 4-1 in scoring chances in their 4:16 of ice time.
0:00 – The period comes to an end. Not a horrible period, not a great period. They had a nice response after the power play goal, but haven’t been able to sustain the puck in the Montreal zone for long stretches. It’s apparent that in their own zone their focus is on clearing the puck no matter what. They have been flipping the puck out of the zone a lot as opposed to skating it out of danger. The key has been that they’ve been able to get the puck deep on these clears, which is allowing them to change lines.
Second Period
19:33 – Three face-offs in 27 seconds! Honestly, this type of choppy game favors the Lightning a little. Montreal wants to play with speed and the Lightning are doing a decent job of gumming things up in the neutral zone.
14:45 -Dobes folds himself over a shot from Erik Cernak. That entry featured not one, but two behind-the-back passes at the blue line shortly after the entry. This team does love to flirt with danger.
12:12 – The Nick Paul line (now featuring more Scott Sabourin!) has had two solid shifts in the second period. No, they haven’t scored, but they’ve kept the play in the Montreal zone for the majority of time on the ice, and have been pretty heavy on the forecheck. There have been a few moments of trepidation for the visitors as they’ve had their breakouts disrupted by Lightning forwards.
11:42 – If the Lightning are going to let anyone slip behind the defense on a two-on-one, Phillip Danault would probably be their first choice. The defensive-minded center calls his own number after Darren Raddysh takes away his passing lane, but Vasilevskiy makes the save with his shoulder and doesn’t allow a rebound.
10:08 – A long shift in the Montreal zone ends with a D’Astous shot getting blocked at the blueline. Nick Suzuki leads a rush into the zone that leads to a shot from the top of the slot. Emil Lilleberg deflects it into the crowd. Nice job by the Bolts to get back to even the numbers up and not let things get out of hand.
7:11 – Cole Caufield gets the back-door goal to make it 2-1. Slafkovsky makes the clean entry after a neutral zone turnover before slinging a pass between J.J. Moser and Vasilevskiy to set up his linemate. Moser almost drags his back foot enough to block the shot, but it slides just under his boot and into the net.
Cole Caufield [47] (Jaroslav Slafkovsky, Mike Matheson) 2-1 Canadiens
4:31 – Guentzel draws a penalty on the post-goal shift. With Vasilevskiy on the bench, Kucherov rips a one-timer, but Dobes is able to slide over and make the save. Lets see if the Bolts can keep from committing any infractions on this power play.
3:12 – Dobes with some excellent saves on this power play. Montreal is giving the Lightning space in the zone and Kucherov is starting to find the seams. He set up Point for a shot in front that Dobes kicked out, then Kucherov’s one-timer is stopped as well.
0:50.4 – Nikita Kucherov with a slash on Caufield in the neutral zone. It did not escape the referee’s notice and Kucherov heads to the box for the second time this game.
0:00 – Brandon Hagel streaks down the ice. He’s battling the back-check and the clock. His shot is off on time, but Dobes, who came way out in front of his crease closes off the hole between the top of his pads and under his catching glove arm to deny the last second short-handed goal.
Pretty even period with the Canadiens getting the edge on the scoreboard due to a really nice pass from Slafkovsky. It feels like the Lightning power play is right on the edge of scoring (4 high-danger chances off of 14 shot attempts in 5:01 of ice time). If they can get one more chance, it wouldn’t be a shock to see them put it in the net.
Third Period
18:21 – Save of the night for Vasilevskiy. The penalty expires, but Josh Anderson gets the inside track on his defender and his one-timer off of a pass from behind the net is kicked out by Vasy’s left pad. Montreal is pushing to start the third period.
15:15 – Hey. It’s a scrum! Dobes freezes a puck that trickles in on him and a typical post-whistle shoving battle ensues. Then it escalates as Guentzel isn’t happy that he took a shot to the face from Guhle and then a cross-check from Anderson. The funniest part would be Zach Bolduc jumping up on Lilleberg’s back to get him in a headlock. The officials hand out a bunch of double-minors for roughing and it stays 5-on-5.
13:16 – Now it’s Vasilevskiy’s right pad that gets a workout as he stretches out to stop a shot from Oliver Kapanen. Canadiens are looking to pounce on any mistakes from the Lightning and counter-attack. So far, the Bolts haven’t been able to string together chances in the offensive zone. Dobes is making one save and the puck is getting cleared. Need a little more traffic in front of the net.
12:15 – The Lightning have turned the pressure up a little. A fluttering shot from the point led to a scramble in front of the Montreal net with a lot of sticks poking at the puck. Then Kucherov hits Point in stride as they rush across the blue line. Point is behind the defense, but Dobes holds his ground and makes the save as the puck rolls a bit on Point.
9:08 – It looks like Coach Cooper has shuffled the lines a little, swapping out Guentzel and Kucherov. Point, Gage Goncalves, and Kucherov are back together (at least for now).
8:00 – Okay. Leaving Cole Caufield alone in the slot is an interesting choice. Caufield’s shot is kicked out by Vasilevskiy. Gourde had lost his stick and then collided with Caufield when he turned to go to the bench clearing out the space for Caufield to walk into a dangerous area.
5:15 – The Lightning are knocking on the door. Ryan McDonagh has a chance with Dobes scrambling around, but somehow the puck stays out of the net.
4:06 – It’s a rough shift for Nick Suzuki. First he gets flattened by Erik Cernak at the Montreal blueline, then he gets whistled for cross-checking in the Lightning zone. Bolts head to the power play.
2:33 – Kucherov takes the puck into the zone, stops, spins and gets shoved into the boards by Jake Evans. Darren Raddysh tackles Evans from behind. The officials call the hit a major and huddle to review it. After a look, the penalty is reduced to a two-minute boarding call. Raddysh gets the roughing call and the Lightning stay on the power play for another 28 seconds. Coach Cooper pulls Vasilevskiy for the 6-on-4 advantage.
2:05 – The Lightning get a solid chance but Brayden Point rips one high over the net. On a re-entry, Mike Matheson gets the puck and shuffles it down the ice into the empty net.
Mike Matheson [7] (Unassisted) Empty Net, 3-1 Canadiens.
1:06 – Brandon Hagel tries two diagonal passes instead of shooting from the left circle. It eventually leads to the Lightning losing the puck and Nick Suzuki fires it into the empty net. That should do it.
Nick Suzuki [27] (Unassisted) Empty Net, 4-1
0:36.1 – Scott Sabourin takes a check along the boards, turns around, and goes after Arber Xhekaj. It’s a quick match as they both go to the ice. Erik Cernak and Joe Veleno try to get going, but that’s also over quickly. The refs slap everyone on the ice with a penalty.
0:00 – Some more angry words exchanged after Josh Anderson throws a heavy check behind the Lightning net on Ryan McDonagh. Whistle blows with 3 seconds left, but the refs decide to let it run off the clock as opposed to having another face-off.
It was a tightly played game with Jakob Dobes outdueling Andrei Vasilevskiy. If this is a preview of the first round, it’s going to be a fun one. The Lightning slide back into second place as Buffalo held off the New York Islanders. Montreal trims the gap between them and Tampa Bay to just two points. It’s going to come down to the wire.
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#NHL Game Score Impact Card for Tampa Bay Lightning on 2026-03-31:
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— HockeyStatCards (@hockeystatcards.com) March 31, 2026 at 9:59 PM