TAMPA, Fla. — Tomas Plekanec scored at 3:32 of
overtime to give the Montreal Canadiens a 2-1 victory over the Tampa Bay
Lightning on Wednesday night.
Plekanec beat Mike Smith on a 2-on-1 after a Tampa Bay
turnover for his ninth goal.
Brian Gionta also scored, and Carey Price made 34 saves
for the Canadiens, 5-1 on a season-high seven-game trip. Kurtis Foster scored
for Tampa Bay.
Gionta, playing in his second game after missing 21 games
because of a foot injury, put the Canadiens up 1-0 from the low slot at 9:53 of
the second. Foster tied it on a blue-line shot at 3:52 of the third.
Smith stopped all 14 shots he faced during the first,
including in-close chances by Plekanec, Andrei Markov and Travis Moen.
Smith had his neck and upper back looked at after a
pileup in the crease halfway through the first. His mask required repair work
before play resumed.
Price turned aside Martin St. Louis' shot from low
left-circle early in the third
Canadiens center Scott Gomez took Foster's slap shot off
his leg in the first and then struggled skating to the bench. Gomez was back on
the ice a couple minutes later and assisted on Ginota's second-period goal,
which gave him six assists and seven points over his last four games.
Notes
St. Louis and teammate Vincent Lecavalier were
among the players under serious consideration, but not selected to play for
Canada in the 2010 Olympics. "When you're told that you're not going to
participate and be in this experience, it's hard to take," said St. Louis, who
had an assist that extended his points streak to six games (seven assists, nine
points). "You've just got to accept it, not be happy with it. You have to move
on and there's no better way to do that than play in a hockey game instead of
being at home and thinking about it." … Montreal D Roman Hamrlik returned
after missing the previous six games because of a a knee injury. … Markov
assisted on Ginota's goal for a six-game points streak (five assists, eight
points).