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 The 24-year-old center recorded his eighth career hat trick,
defenseman Victor Hedman played a part in four goals, and Tampa Bay
Lightning handed the Montreal Canadiens their first loss of the
season, 7-1, Monday at Amalie Arena.
Stamkos scored the Lightning's second goal on a wide shot with 10:09
left in the opening period. He scored again on a breakaway with 6:45
left in the second period, then added a power-play goal five minutes
later for a 4-1 lead.
"That was big. They were playing well coming in," Stamkos said. "We
stuck to the structure, played well defensively and got rewarded
with pucks going in the net."
Hedman, who opened the scoring with his third goal in as many games,
collected assists on the next three. Right winger Nikita Kucherov
contributed two assists.
"It was nice to see Stammer get a few tonight, and no question Heddy
kept his offensive game going," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. "I
thought we played extremely well on the defensive end, especially
(defenseman) Anton Stralman with arguably the biggest save of the
night."
The Canadiens (3-1-0) came in as the NHL's first 3-0 team, following
two shootout wins, but Tampa Bay (2-0-1) never let the game get that
close. The Lightning converted two of three power-play opportunities
in the first two periods, and they took the league lead with six
goals on the man advantage this season.
Montreal failed on all four power-play attempts, falling to an
NHL-worst 0-for-14.
"We have to simplify it, put the puck in the net," said Montreal
center Tomas Plekanec, who is tied for the NHL lead with four goals.
"We tried to make extra passes, but if that doesn't work, we have to
try to put the puck in the net first. Then the other plays will open
up."
Canadiens goalie Carey Price was pulled in the third period, and the
Lightning beat backup Dustin Tokarski for two goals in a span of 17
seconds, with right winger Ryan Callahan getting his second of the
season and left winger Ondrej Palat scoring his first.
Tampa Bay scored a seventh goal -- its first seven-goal game in more
than a year -- on the first career goal for center Vladislav
Namestnikov with 3:05 to play.
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Montreal's goal, tying the game at 1-1, came with 7:44 left in the
first period. Right winger Brendan Gallagher netted his first of the
season, redirecting a shot from defenseman Jarred Tinordi.
Price stopped 19 of the 23 shots he faced, and Tokarski added 15
saves. Tampa Bay goalie Ben Bishop made 16 saves.
The score was still 2-1 when the Canadiens got the puck past Bishop,
only to have Stralman make a diving save behind the goalie to
preserve the Tampa Bay lead.
"If they said at the start of the road trip, 'We're going to go out
and get six of eight points,' they would be clicking their heels,"
Cooper said of the Canadiens. "For us, this was a must-win. Their
team were on the road since the start of the season, probably a
little bit tired. ...
"That's a really good team that's at the end of a road trip. That
team's going to be heard from this year. Saying that, I thought we
earned the win."
The Lightning close out a four-game homestand Tuesday against the
New Jersey Devils, while the Canadiens play their first home game
Thursday against the Boston Bruins.
NOTES: Montreal came in as the NHL's first 3-0 team following a pair
of shootout victories. The Lightning lost in shootout Saturday. The
Canadiens' three wins, all on the road, came despite the team giving
up two power-play goals and going 0-for-10 with the extra man. ...
After holding the Canadiens scoreless on four power-play chances,
Tampa Bay is one of eight NHL teams that has yet to allow a
power-play goal. ... Lightning D Anton Stralman finished a game-best
plus-3. Canadiens LW Rene Bourque and C Lars Eller each ended up
minus-3.
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