TAMPA — Andrei Vasilevskiy set the Tampa Bay Lightning record for shutouts, and Nikita Kucherov scored for the fourth straight game in a 3-0 win against the Montreal Canadiens at Amalie Arena on Saturday.
Vasilevskiy made 20 saves for the Lightning (44-11-4), who have won five games in a row and are 7-0-2 in their past nine.
“[The shutout] wasn’t bad,” Vasilevskiy said. “The guys played really well. They didn’t give up many scoring chances and blocked a lot of shots. Huge goal support too. It’s all about the team.”
[WATCH: All Canadiens vs. Lightning highlights]
It was his 18th NHL shutout, one more than Ben Bishop had for Tampa Bay, which leads the Calgary Flames and San Jose Sharks by 15 points for the NHL lead.
“It’s cool,” Vasilevskiy said. “[Bishop] is an unbelievable goalie, and I’m pretty proud to be No. 1 in shutouts in franchise history.”
Video: Vasilevskiy earns Saturday’s Pepsi Zero Sugar Shutout
Kucherov, who had an assist on Yanni Gourde‘s goal to make it 2-0 at 3:41 of the third period, has five goals and eight assists during a four-game point streak and leads the NHL with 94 points (27 goals, 67 assists).
Carey Price made 34 saves for the Canadiens (31-20-7), who lead the Carolina Hurricanes by one point for the first wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.
“I thought we played a very good game up until [the power-play goal],” Price said. “We laid an absolute egg in the third period. It’s a frustrating result, for sure, because I thought we played very well for 40 minutes.”
Kucherov put the Lightning ahead 1-0 with a power-play goal at 2:18 of the third period. He scored with a one-timer from the right face-off circle off a cross-ice pass from Steven Stamkos.
“It’s big. When it’s 0-0 going into the third, the next one is going to be a big one, and it was,” Stamkos said. “It was a big-time player that came through, and [Vasilevskiy] was great again.”
Video: MTL@TBL: Kucherov pots PPG on one-timer
After Gourde scored on a breakaway, Tyler Johnson made it 3-0 at 16:46 when he finished off a 2-on-1 with Stamkos.
“We directed a lot of traffic in front of Price tonight,” Gourde said. “We put a lot pucks there, and they did a good job of boxing us out early, but we stuck with it. When you can get the lead in the third period, it’s tough for the other team to come back.”
Johnson scored at 11:53 of the third period, but the goal was overturned after Montreal coach Claude Julien challenged for goalie interference and video review showed Johnson made contact with Price, preventing him from playing his position.
Canadiens defenseman Brett Kulak scored at 12:49 of the second period, but Lightning coach Jon Cooper challenged for offside, and the goal was overturned after video review showed Jesperi Kotkaniemi was in the zone ahead of the puck.
“You could tell the way the game was going the first goal was going to be very important,” Montreal forward Brendan Gallagher said. “We played a good hockey team. For 40 minutes, we were right there. Our goaltender made a ton of good saves.”
They said it
“I think it was pretty obvious, we cracked in the third. I thought we played a good 40 minutes and we might have been a little bit better than them in scoring chances. Every coach is going to tell you we need to learn from that. We do need to learn from that. We need to be better in those situations.” — Canadiens coach Claude Julien
“Goaltenders can mask a lot of mistakes, and those two guys are a big part of the success of our franchise and where we are now.” — Lightning coach Jon Cooper on Andrei Vasilevskiy and former Tampa Bay goalie Ben Bishop
Need to know
Vasilevskiy has consecutive shutouts (32 saves in a 6-0 win against the Dallas Stars on Thursday) and is tied with Marc-Andre Fleury of the Vegas Golden Knights for the NHL lead with six. … Kucherov, Brayden Point (75) and Stamkos (71) became the first group of three teammates to score at least 70 points each within the first 60 games of a season since the 1995-96 Pittsburgh Penguins (Mario Lemieux, Jaromir Jagr and Ron Francis). … Gallagher had 10 shot attempts (four on goal) and four hits in 14:40. … Point had an assist on Gourde’s goal and has nine points (two goals, seven assists) during a five-game point streak. … Lightning defenseman Erik Cernak returned to the lineup after missing two games and had a game-high seven shots on goal in 17:48.
What’s next
Canadiens: At the Florida Panthers on Sunday (7 p.m. ET; SN, FS-F, RDS, NHL.TV)
Lightning: At the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday (7:30 p.m. ET; NBCSN, SN, TVAS, NHL.TV)
from A Viral Update http://bit.ly/2NcO5No
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