TAMPA (WDAE) -- Steven Stamkos scored his 800th career NHL point, Victor Hedman had four assists, and Mitchell Stephens scored his first NHL goal as the Tampa Bay Lightnig rallied from a two-goal deficit in the first period to defeat the Montreal Canadiens 5-4 Saturday at Amalie Arena.
The Tampa Bay offense was nonexistent for the first twelve-plus minutes of the game, as Carey Price didn't even see a puck reach him until 7:35 remained in the period. In that stretch, Montreal built a 2-0 lead as Jesperi Kotkaniemi took advantage of a slow line change to beat Andrei Vasilevskiy just over two minutes into the contest, and a slap shot by Max Domi ricocheted off the far post and past the goal line right at the halfway point of the period for his 10th of the year.
Tampa Bay cut the deficit back to a single goal with just under a minute to play in the first as Killorn found a wide open net as the puck caromed to him from Ryan McDonagh and he stuffed it home for his 12th goal of the year.
The Lightning came out for the second period with a different attitude, as Stamkos fired a puck over the net, then played the ricochet in past Price for his 14th goal of the year to tie the game. Mitchell Stephens broke the tie three minutes later as his shot deflected off a defender and past Price for his first goal in the NHL.
Killorn made it 4-2 with eight minutes to go in the period with his second goal of the game, but Montreal responded on the very next shift, as Ben Chiarot made it a one-goal game again with his fifth of the year.
Anthony Cirelli gave the Lightning some insurance just 55 seconds into the third with his eighth goal of the season. The game remained 5-3 until late in the game, when Pat Maroon took a high-sticking penalty, and after pulling Price for an extra attacker, Jordan Weal was able to get Montreal back within one goal at 5-4, though Vasilevskiy and the Lightning would not allow them to tie the game back up.
SCORING SUMMARY
1st Period
- MTL: GOAL - Jesperi Kotkaniemi (4). ASSISTS - none. TIME - 2:08.
- MTL: GOAL - Max Domi (10). ASSISTS - Suzuki, Petry. TIME - 10:00
- TBL: GOAL - Alex Killorn (12). ASSISTS - McDonagh, Stamkos. TIME - 19:01.
2nd Period
- TBL: GOAL - Steven Stamkos (14). ASSISTS - Hedman, Killorn. TIME - 1:34.
- TBL: GOAL - Mitchell Stephens (1). ASSISTS - Hedman, Vasilevskiy. TIME - 4:56
- TBL: GOAL - Alex Killorn (13). ASSISTS - Cirelli, Hedman. TIME - 12:00.
- MTL: GOAL - Ben Chiarot (5). ASSISTS - Gallagher, Danault. TIME - 12:13.
3rd Period
- TBL: GOAL - Anthony Cirelli (8). ASSIST - Hedman. TIME - 0:55.
- MTL: GOAL (PP) - Jordan Weal (4). ASSISTS - Tatar, Gallagher. TIME - 18:32.