Montréal Canadiens at Tampa Bay Lightning: game preview
MontréalCanadiens2026-27: 1-1-1 · 3 pts · 2025-26: 48-24-10 · 106 pts · 6that
Tampa BayLightning2026-27: 2-1-0 · 4 pts · 2025-26: 50-26-6 · 106 pts · 5thTwo clubs level on last season's points
Montréal finished last season 6th in the league on 106 points. Tampa Bay finished 5th on 106, and the 2025-26 season series went MTL 6-2-3.
Game-day prices arrive with the afternoon snapshot, about 4:30 PM ET on the day of the game.
Meeting number 154
Across 153 completed games, Tampa Bay lead the head-to-head 81-51-21.
Last 5 meetings
See all: Last 5 meetings →The table on each 2025-26 meeting night
League rank after that night's games; a longer bar is a higher place. On 24 Apr 2026, Montréal were 6th in the league and Tampa Bay 5th. By 3 May 2026 it was 6th and 5th.
Tampa Bay have created the better chances, last 10 games
Shot quality both ways: expected goals weigh every unblocked attempt by its chance of scoring. Finishing above zero means more goals than the chances.
This season: 3 games for Montréal, 3 for Tampa Bay. Small sample: early-season xG moves a lot from night to night.
Last 10 games: 10 games for Montréal, 10 for Tampa Bay.
2025-26: 82 games for Montréal, 82 for Tampa Bay.
Power play and penalty kill, season and series
This season's rates first, then 2025-26 and the last meetings between the two. Power-play chances are counted from the penalty log with coincidental minors cancelled; faceoffs are each club's wins over draws taken.
All bars share one scale · 0–100%SeasonLast meetings
Montréal
Small sampleTampa Bay
Small sampleSkaters to watch
Each club's top three forwards and defencemen by points this season, with 2025-26 one tap away.
Who has stopped this matchup
Save percentage in the last meetings by goalie. Starters are confirmed on game day.
Montréal crease
MTL · 2026-27 Starter estimate from 28 Dec
No appearances against Tampa Bay in the last meetings.
Tampa Bay crease
TBL · 2026-27 Starter estimate from 28 Dec
No appearances against Montréal in the last meetings.
Scoring rates point to about 6.5 goals
No total is posted yet: it arrives with the game-day prices. Until then, the scoring rates and the recent meetings set the range.
Goals in the last 5 meetings
Bar length is total goals, coloured by the winner.
Scoring rates
Montréal4.004.673.453.12
Tampa Bay2.672.333.542.82Goals for and against per game. The estimate averages each team’s scoring with the other’s goals allowed, and leans on 2025-26 until a team has played 20 games.
8 on the injury lists
Montréal · injuries
Tampa Bay · injuries
Latest moves
See all: Latest moves →Placed D Reilly Walsh, D Maksymilian Szuber, D Ethan Samson, C Sam Poulin, RW Sasha Pastujov, C Hunter McKown, G Kaapo Kähkönen, LW Brett Berard, and RW Alex Belzile on waivers for the purpose of loaning them to Laval (AHL).
Signed F Chris Kreider to a one-year contract.
Loaned F Vinzenz Rohrer to EV Zug (Switzerland).
Placed C Jansen Harkins on waivers.
Placed D Michael Callahan on waivers.
Placed D Michael Callahan, G Mads Sogaard Nielsenon, LD Maxim Groshev, LW Jakob Pelletier and C Nicholas Abruzzese on waivers.
Montréal · 2026 draft
See all: Montréal · 2026 draft →Tampa Bay · 2026 draft
See all: Tampa Bay · 2026 draft →
Updated after every final