Canadiens Beat Lightning 3-2 in Game 5 to Lead Series — Nhl Games Tonight

Montreal won nhl games tonight in Tampa Bay, beating the Lightning 3-2 in Game 5 and moving in front 3-2 in the series. The Canadiens had been tied with Tampa Bay at two wins apiece after the first four games, so one road result changed the margin completely.

Martin St. Louis changes

Martin St. Louis made his first lineup change before puck drop, replacing Oliver Kapanen with Brendan Gallagher. Gallagher scored on his first shift in the series, and that early strike gave Montreal a cleaner start than it had produced in the first four games.

St. Louis also shifted Josh Anderson to the wing on the first line and moved Juraj Slafkovsky to the second line. He said the first line “hadn’t scored a goal five-on-five in the first four games” and added, “He wanted to get his second line going.”

Texier swings Game 5

Kirby Dach was part of the scoring too, and Alexandre Texier delivered the go-ahead goal early in the third period. Montreal needed that answer because Tampa Bay had matched the Canadiens through four games, with both teams sitting on 11 goals before Game 5.

The line changes gave Montreal a different look, and the numbers from those combinations back up why St. Louis leaned that way. The Suzuki line with Anderson registered an Expected Goals mark of 59, while Slafkovsky, Ivan Demidov and Jake Evans posted a 93 Expected Goals share.

Lightning lose control

The result leaves Tampa Bay chasing the series after a game played on its own ice, with the Lightning still dealing with consistency issues. Charle-Edouard D’Astous was out with a concussion, another lineup hit for a team that needed a cleaner response after Montreal’s late push.

For the Canadiens, the win came at the right time. They left Tampa Bay with a 3-2 lead and the chance to finish the job after a Game 5 built on one lineup change, one first-shift goal and one third-period go-ahead marker.