Lightning drop to 3rd in Atlantic Division with loss to Canadiens

Eduardo A. Encina, Tampa Bay Times on Apr 9, 2026

Published in Hockey

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MONTREAL — The Lightning have been one of the league’s top road teams because they’ve gone into opposing arenas and taken control of games. They’ve quieted crowds. They’ve worn teams down. They’ve pulled out games late.

But during their final road trip of the season — one that in many ways is a dress rehearsal for the atmosphere they’ll face in the postseason — they’ve been unable to duplicate that winning formula of gutting out games away from home.

Struggling to produce offensively, they went into the final two minutes Thursday night in Montreal on the verge of a third straight road loss before tying the game on defenseman Darren Raddysh’s 22nd goal of the season.

However, just 47 seconds later, Lightning defenseman J.J. Moser couldn’t get the puck out from behind his own net and Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki picked it off, then found Juraj Slafkovsky for the game winner with 64 seconds to play.

With their 2-1 loss, the Lightning fell into third place in the Atlantic Division, four points behind first-place Buffalo and two behind Montreal with only three games remaining in the regular season.

Tampa Bay lost to both teams — potential playoff opponents — on the four-game trip that ends Saturday at Boston.

The Lightning started off slow again Thursday, and the Canadiens were buzzing. Goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy kept the game scoreless through a four-minute Montreal power play early in the first period that saw the Canadiens rifle off nine shot attempts and get seven scoring chances.

Tampa Bay had its opportunities, but its power play couldn’t steal momentum. After starting 0 for 3 on the man advantage in the first period, the Lightning had a chance to even the game on the power play late in the third but couldn’t convert, dropping to 1 for 27 over the past eight games.

The Bell Centre started shaking when Cole Caufield finished a 2-on-1 breakaway, the moment the fans were waiting for as he became the first Canadiens player in 36 years to score 50 goals in a season.

The Lightning have lost three straight road games for the first time since their first three road games coming following the Olympic break.

Despite chasing the game, Tampa Bay was intent on sending a message to a young Montreal team it could see again when the playoffs start next weekend. The Lightning had three misconducts, one fighting major and six roughing penalties in the first two periods.

The penalties forced them to play much of the third period with just four defensemen.

The Lightning suffered from some long gaps without a shot on goal. Their first shot of the game didn’t come until 11:24, and they didn’t have a shot in the third until 7:54 into the period.