TAMPA, Fla. – Max Pacioretty scored two goals and Carey Price made 43 saves to lead the Montreal Canadiens to a 4-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday night.
Montreal has won four consecutive games, including three on the road, and the sixth-place Canadiens are only two points behind Tampa Bay in the Eastern Conference playoff race. The Southeast Division-leading Lightning have lost three in a row.
Price stopped all but three of the 116 shots he faced during a three-game road sweep of Southeast opponents Atlanta, Florida and Tampa Bay.
The Canadiens went up 2-0 when Hal Gill and David Desharnais beat Dwayne Roloson 3:14 apart in the first period. Tampa Bay hadn't allowed a goal in the opening period for six straight games.
Gill, a defenseman, has scored in back-to-back games after going 99 without one.
Dominic Moore, who later added an assist, made it 2-1 with a power-play goal 1:25 into the second period. It was the first time during their winning streak that Canadiens failed to kill a penalty.
Pacioretty restored Montreal's two-goal advantage on a power play with 5:55 left in the second, then made it 4-1 at 1:18 of the third.
Lightning captain Vincent Lecavalier closed the scoring with 5:53 to go.
Canadiens captain Brian Gionta had an assist in his 600th NHL game, and teammate Tomas Plekanec added two.
Notes: Tampa Bay has scored two or fewer goals in seven of eight games. ... Montreal LW Andrei Kostitsyn, with an assist on Desharnais' goal, has eight points in six games. ... The Lightning are nearing the end of a 19-game stretch that included only three road games. ... The Canadiens improved to 24-1-4 when leading after two periods.
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