By ANTHONY GIORNALISTA
STATS Senior Writer

Tampa Bay (5-4-5) at Montreal (8-8-0), 7:00 p.m. EDT

Teams such as the Montreal Canadiens seem to thrive when a game
lasts past regulation. The Tampa Bay Lightning certainly haven't
been one of them.

Following their third shootout win of the season, the Canadiens
return home Saturday night to face a Lightning club that
continues to have a tough time late in games.

Montreal (8-8-0) has won two of three following consecutive
losses, earning both of those victories in shootouts. The
Canadiens beat Boston 2-1 on Thursday night, improving to 7-0-0
in games that have gone past regulation.

Tampa Bay is 1-0-5 in such contests, including a 3-2 overtime
loss to Ottawa on Thursday night. Two days earlier, though, the
Lightning beat Toronto 2-1 in OT.

Though Tampa Bay (5-4-5) has scored two goals or fewer in four
straight, captain Vincent Lecavalier thought the team's last
effort was a step in the right direction.

"I think it was a good game overall," he said.

The Lightning are 1-1-1 on a four-game stretch on the road,
where they are 1-4-2. Tampa Bay has scored two goals or fewer in
all of its games away from St. Pete Times Forum other than a 6-3
loss to Atlanta in its season opener Oct. 3.

Alex Tanguay, though, has been showing signs of improvement
following a poor start. The veteran winger, signed as a free
agent in September, has two goals and four assists in his last
seven games after registering one point - an assist versus the
Thrashers - in his first seven.

Steven Stamkos continues to impress. He scored a power-play goal
against the Senators after having an eight-game point streak
snapped Tuesday.

Stamkos, the first pick in the 2008 draft, already has 12 goals
after scoring 23 as a rookie last season. He had one assist in
four games against the Canadiens in 2008-09, as Tampa Bay went
2-0-2.

Antero Niittymaki has given up four goals or more in six of his
last seven games against Montreal. He stopped 26 shots versus
Ottawa in his second straight start.

Niittymaki is 3-1-2 with a 2.09 goals-against average. He's been
splitting time with Mike Smith, who is 2-3-3 with a 3.64 GAA.

Whoever is in goal won't have rookie defenseman Victor Hedman
helping them out on the blue line. Hedman, selected second
overall in this year's draft, is day to day after being leveled
by Ottawa's Chris Neil on a hit along the boards.

Montreal showed improvement defensively against Boston after
surrendering 18 goals in its previous four games. Carey Price
stopped 42 shots for his first win since beating Buffalo 2-1 on
the road Oct. 3.

Price is 3-6-0 with a 3.32 GAA.