Tonight at 7:30 p.m. ET, the Tampa Bay Lightning (12-5-0, 24 points) and Montreal Canadiens (9-8-1, 19 points) faceoff live from Bell Centre in Montreal in the first of four meetings this season. The game can be live streamed here. Tampa Bay fans can hear all of the hard-hitting action on 620 WDAE while Montreal fans can do the same on TSN Radio 690.
Tampa Bay is coming off of a 3-0 loss to the Boston Bruins it lost leading scorer Steven Stamkos (23 points) to a broken tibia Monday afternoon after he banged his leg into the goalpost. Montreal, meanwhile, ended a four-game skid with a 4-2 win over the New York Islanders at home Sunday night.
The Lightning announced Monday that Stamkos is out indefinitely and that the team will have to go on without him for the foreseeable future, starting tonight in Montreal.
"At this point Steven will be out indefinitely," Lightning general manager Steve Yzerman said in a statement released by the team, according to NHL.com. "The medical staff in Boston, in consultation with our team physicians, has made the decision to surgically repair the injury. The procedure is expected to take place [Tuesday] morning. The biggest concern for me, and the rest of the Lightning, is that decisions are made in Steven's best long-term interest, and we feel this is the appropriate course of action."
Montreal, meanwhile, is getting good news on the injury front as Daniel Briere will return to the lineup tonight after being sidelined with a concussion on Oct. 19.
"We hope to see Briere back tomorrow," head coach Michel Therrien told the Canadiens' website Monday. "We'll see how he is feeling after the morning skate, then we'll make a decision."
The Canadiens have been paced by defenseman P.K. Subban, who has 17 points on three goals and 14 assists while Alex Galchenyuk has three tallies and 11 helpers for 14 points and Tomas Plekanec has lit the lamp six times and added seven assists for 13 points.
With Stamkos out, the Lightning's highest scoring healthy player is Martin St. Louis, who has 16 points off of seven goals and nine assists while Valtteri Filppula (6-6-12), Alex Killorn (4-8-12) and Teddy Purcell (5-5-10) have all reached double digits in points for Tampa Bay.
In between the pipes, the Lightning have gone with Ben Bishop in 13 of 18 games and he's posted an impressive 11-2-0 record to go along with a 2.12 goals-against average and a .927 save percentage while Carey Price has manned the crease for Montreal in 15 of 18 games and has posted a 7-7-1 record along with a 2.20 GAA and a .920 save percentage.
The Lightning looks to move on without their leading scorer while the Canadiens hope to win their second straight at home when the puck drops in Montreal tonight.
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