Cole Caufield scores 50th goal; Canadiens tally late to edge Lightning

Jaraj Slafkovsky scored with 1:04 remaining in the third period and the host Montreal Canadiens edged the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-1 on Thursday night.

Nick Suzuki intercepted a pass behind the net and passed in front to Slafkovsky, who knocked it in from in front of the crease. The goal was No. 30 of the season for Slafkovsky, while the assist was Suzuki's 70th of the campaign.

Tampa Bay's Darren Raddysh tied the score 1-1 at 18:09 of the third period when he scored on a one-timer from the top of the right circle off a pass from Nikita Kucherov.

Cole Caufield scored his 50th goal of the season for the Canadiens (47-22-10, 104 points), who moved within two points of the Buffalo Sabres for first place in the Atlantic Division. Suzuki had two assists, Slafkovsky tallied a goal and an assist and netminder Jakub Dobes made 17 saves.

Andrei Vasilevskiy made 19 saves for the Lightning (48-25-6, 102 points), who have lost three straight and trail the Canadiens by two points and the Sabres by four.

Caufield became the seventh different player in Canadiens' franchise history to score 50 goals in a season and the first since Stephane Richer scored 51 in the 1989-90 season.

The game between two teams that could meet in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs featured numerous scuffles and skirmishes with the teams combining for 126 penalty minutes, 71 by the Lightning.

Montreal went 0-for-7 on the power play and Tampa Bay was 0-for-4.

Caufield gave the Canadiens a 1-0 lead at 6:30 of the second period. Suzuki entered the zone on the rush, drew the defense to him and passed over the Caufield, who scored on a wrist shot from the right circle.

Vasilevskiy made a stellar save on a point-blank shot by Oliver Kapanen at the 30-second mark of the third period to keep the score 1-0.

Kucherov hit the cross bar during a power play at 16:06 of the third period.

--Field Level Media