Lightning 2, Canadiens 1 (OT): Nate Thompson scored his second goal at 4:36 into overtime as visiting Tampa Bay edged Montreal to end a two-game slide.
Thompson, who snapped a 23-game goal drought in the second period, worked his way to the front of the net to knock home defenseman Victor Hedmanâ?? ? ?s short feed for the winner. Hedman finished with two assists and Ben Bishop made 28 saves in his return after taking a teammateâ?? ? ?s skate boot to the head in Thursdayâ?? ? ?s game.
Daniel Briere scored in his second straight game for the Canadiens, who had come in off two consecutive wins. Carey Price stopped 34 shots for Montreal, which was 0-of-4 on the power play â?? ? ? including one that stretched into overtime.
Price easily turned aside rookie Nikita Kucherovâ?? ? ?s penalty shot 4:41 into the game and made 10 saves in the scoreless first period. The Lightning took the lead while a man down 5:58 into the second when Thompsonâ?? ? ?s shot was deflected in off defenseman P.K. Subbanâ?? ? ?s stick.
Briere tied the game 7:25 into the third period, taking a cross-ice pass from captain Brian Gionta and beating Bishop to the stick side from the left circle. Price made a big stop on captain Martin St. Louis with under five minutes left in the third and Bishop stopped Tomas Plekanecâ?? ? ?s wicked wrist shot in the final seconds.
GAME NOTEBOOK: The Lightning, who did not have a short-handed goal in the abbreviated 2012-13 campaign, boast six this season â?? ? ? three in the last five games. â?? ? Montreal LW Christian Thomas, the son of Lightning assistant coach Steve Thomas, made his debut and played his second NHL game. â?? ? Tampa Bayâ?? ? ?s second leading scorer C Valtteri Filppula (40 points) missed the game with a lower-body injury and was replaced in the lineup by C Tom Pyatt.
