By Canadian Press

Steven Stamkos and Nicholas Paul power Lightning past Canadiens 7-4

Apr 4, 2024 | 7:04 PM

MONTREAL — Steven Stamkos and Nicholas Paul had two goals apiece to lift the Tampa Bay Lightning to a 7-4 win over the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday.

NHL points leader Nikita Kucherov scored his 34th goal of the season and added two assists as the Lightning (43-26-7) earned their 10th win to tighten their hold on the first wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.

Michael Eyssimont and Brandon Nagel scored the other Tampa Bay goals.

Joel Armia scored twice for the Canadiens (29-34-12). Juraj Slafkovsky and Cole Caufied scored the other goals in a third-period push which fell short.

Matt Tomkins, a 29-year-old journeyman who was making only his fourth NHL start and the first since Nov. 7, made 27 saves for the win. He has a 2-2-0 record with both of his wins coming against the Canadiens in Montreal.

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Cayden Primeau made 30 saves in the loss.

The Canadiens played most of the game with five defencemen. Kaiden Guhle left with an upper-body injury early in the first period after he was driven into the end boards by a hard check from Kucherov. There was no penalty on the play.

Hagel left the game with seven minutes remaining after an open-ice collision with teammate Stamkos.

Stamkos snapped a 2-2 tie with his first goal of the night at 7:58 of the second period and Paul scored his second goal of the game 74 seconds later

UP NEXT — The Lightning wraps up its three-game road trip with a Saturday afternoon game in Pittsburgh.

Steven Stamkos and Nicholas Paul power Lightning past Canadiens 7-4

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