Wednesday, April 02, 2014
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Lightning 3, Canadiens 1

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[April 02, 2014]   — Lightning 3, Canadiens 1: Rookie Tyler Johnson scored his fifth short-handed goal of the season with 7:19 left in the third period to snap a tie and host Tampa Bay held on to clinch an Eastern Conference playoff spot.

Johnson retrieved a loose puck in the neutral zone and went in alone before flipping a backhand past Montreal goalie Carey Price for a 2-1 lead. Ryan Callahan also scored and Alex Killorn added an empty-netter while Ben Bishop turned aside 25 shots as the Lightning improved to 8-1-4 in their last 13 games.

Brendan Gallagher scored his 19th goal for Montreal, which also clinched a postseason berth despite having its five-game winning streak snapped. Price made 30 saves for the Canadiens, who fell into a tie with Tampa Bay for second place in the Atlantic Division and have played one more game than the Lightning.

Gallagher opened the scoring 10:18 into the game, battling his way to the net to knock in a rebound of defenseman’s Mike Weaver’s deflected shot. Callahan tied the game on the power play 9:19 into the second session, roofing a backhand on Price from below the left circle after breaking free.

Teddy Purcell appeared to have given the Lightning the lead with 11.7 seconds left in the second, but the goal was disallowed for incidental contact with Price. Johnson tied Boston’s Brad Marchand for the league lead in short-handed tallies and matched Steven Stamkos for the rookie franchise record with his 23rd goal.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Montreal D Douglas Murray received a match penalty for an elbow to the head of Tampa Bay D Mike Kostka with 2:13 left in the game. Kostka laid on the ice for several minutes, but skated off under his own power. … Montreal, which dropped three of four to the Lightning this season, fell to 22-3-2 when leading after the first period. … Tampa Bay C Valtteri Filppula saw his career-best 12-game point streak come to an end.

[© 2014 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

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