Tampa Bay hosts Montreal after Hedman’s 2-goal game

Montreal Canadiens (18-13-6, third in the Atlantic Division) vs. Tampa Bay Lightning (18-13-4, sixth in the Atlantic Division)

Tampa, Florida; Saturday, 7 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Tampa Bay hosts the Montreal Canadiens after Victor Hedman scored two goals in the Lightning’s 6-1 victory against the Panthers.

The Lightning are 11-2-0 against the rest of their division. Tampa Bay leads the league with 6.2 assists per game, led by Nikita Kucherov averaging 0.8.

The Canadiens are 9-8-6 in conference matchups. Montreal has surrendered 28 power-play goals, killing 75.2% of opponent chances.

In their last meeting on Oct. 15, Tampa Bay won 3-1.

TOP PERFORMERS: Kucherov has recorded 40 total points while scoring 13 goals and collecting 27 assists for the Lightning. Steven Stamkos has six goals and four assists over the last 10 games for Tampa Bay.

Shea Weber leads the Canadiens with 19 total assists and has collected 30 points. Brendan Gallagher has totaled five goals and six assists over the last 10 games for Montreal.

LAST 10 GAMES: Canadiens: 7-3-0, averaging 3.2 goals, 4.9 assists, 3.8 penalties and 7.9 penalty minutes while allowing 2.1 goals per game with a .930 save percentage.

Lightning: 5-4-1, averaging 3.3 goals, 5.4 assists, 3.1 penalties and 6.9 penalty minutes while giving up 2.8 goals per game with a .902 save percentage.

INJURIES: Lightning: Nikita Kucherov: day to day (lower body).

Canadiens: Joel Armia: day to day (upper body).