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LIGHTNING 4, CANADIENS 3: Martin St. Louis and Vinny Lecavalier, both from suburban Montreal, come up big to beat their former hometown team.
By DAMIAN CRISTODERO, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times, published December 18, 2001
MONTREAL -- Whatever Martin St. Louis' mom is putting in the soup, she should bottle it.
St. Louis, who grew up in the Montreal suburb of Laval, ate at home Sunday.
Monday night, the right wing scored two goals -- including the winner in the third period -- to help the Lightning to a 4-3 victory over the Canadiens at the Molson Centre.
They were the first goals St. Louis scored in his home city and broke a streak of one goal in his past 19 games.
Vinny Lecavalier, who grew up in Ile Bizard, another Montreal suburb, also scored as did Ben Clymer. Sheldon Keefe had two assists.
Nikolai Khabibulin allowed the most goals since giving up six to Boston on Nov. 27, but made some dramatic saves to preserve the victory.
The Lightning outshot Montreal 31-21.
Doug Gilmour had a goal and an assist for the Canadiens, 1-4-1 in their past six at home.
The winner came 55 seconds into the third period and broke a tie at 3. Fredrik Modin did the work behind the net and sent a cross-slot pass to St. Louis, who scored his ninth.
Modin took a punch in the head from Patrice Brisebois after the play, igniting a fight in which Modin tossed Brisebois to the ground.
Except for two costly plays, both of which resulted in goals, the Lightning played one of its better periods of the season to start the game, outshooting the Canadiens 16-7 but falling behind 2-1.
It was the most shots for Tampa Bay in a period since it got 16 in the third against the Islanders on Nov. 6.
Lecavalier scored at 17:23 when he picked up the puck after Keefe fanned on a shot attempt. Goalie Jeff Hackett stopped Lecavalier's first shot but couldn't stop his second as Lecavalier scored his fifth of the season and just his second in 16 games.
By that time, however, the Canadiens had gotten off to a quick start.
Oleg Petrov's goal came at 7:51 on a rocket of a slap shot that beat Khabibulin from the faceoff circle to the goalie's right. The puck hit Khabibulin's right leg and the inside of the post before going in the net.
Gilmour scored 28 seconds later off a brutal giveaway by defenseman Pavel Kubina. Gilmour stole the puck and was stopped by Khabibulin on his first shot. But Gilmour jammed at the rebound and pushed it in for his third goal, all in the past four games.
Had it not been for Hackett, Tampa Bay could have been ahead. The goalie made great saves on Modin and Vinny Prospal, and robbed Lecavalier from in front of the net with a sprawling glove save.
The Lightning outshot Montreal 7-5 in the second period and took a 3-2 lead with goals in a span of 48 seconds and a little help from Hackett.
St. Louis scored at 8:49, when he simply threw the puck at the net from a sharp angle along the boards. Hackett tried to use the catch glove but missed and the puck went in.
Clymer broke a nine-game streak without a point when his slap shot from a faceoff circle got through Hackett's legs and trickled into the net at 10:23.
The Canadiens tied the score at 3 at 11:34 on a picture-perfect play in which Brian Savage scored his 11th goal by redirecting Gilmour's perfect pass.