The Tampa Bay Lightning have lost four games in a row and will look to get the offense going again as they battle the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. EST.

The Lightning are 16-11-2 and first in the Atlantic Division. They just lost on the road to the Toronto Maple Leafs 2-0. The Maple Leafs were up 1-0 after one and scored an empty netter to put it away. The Bolts outshot the Maple Leafs 29-24, but lost in hits 20-16 and in faceoffs 31-24. Tampa was 0-for-1 on the power play and the penalty kill was 2-for-2 on stops. The Lightning gave the puck away a decent amount and goaltender Jonas Jonahsson was the third star with 22 saves.

The Canadiens are 15-10-3 and third in the Atlantic Division. They just lost at home to the St. Louis Blues 4-3. Montreal led 2-1 after one period but then gave up three straight goals, and two of them happened early in the second period. The Canadiens outshot the Blues 26-18, but lost in hits 34-14 and 32-22 in faceoffs. Montreal was 0-for-2 on the power play and was 1-for-2 on stops on the penalty kill. The Canadiens struggled to get some good chances through to the net and Noah Dobson was the third star with one goal and one assist.

Spread

Money line

Total

Note: The above data was collected on Dec. 9, 2025, and may have changed since writing.

Tampa Bay Lightning

Montreal Canadiens

Tampa Bay is 10th in scoring, fifth in goals against, tied for 24th on the power play, and third on the penalty kill. Brandon Hagel leads the team in goals. The Bolts haven't scored a goal in two games and have scored one goal or fewer in three of their last four games. This is the first bad stretch for the Bolts since they lost the first four games of the season. They have a few key injuries, like goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy, but most of the losses have been low-scoring, defensive ones. Tampa needs to get their depth play going.

Montreal is eighth in scoring, 30th in goals against, fourth on the power play, and 25th on the penalty kill. Cole Caufield leads the team in goals. The Canadiens have been in a win a few and lost a few patterns. Even their offensive and defense categories balance each other out. They are a top-10 offense, but towards the bottom on defense. Both sides of the puck have been inconsistent, with the defense trending down. The Canadiens will look for a good start again and try to avoid giving up goals in bunches.

Best Bet: Lightning Money line

Even though Tampa will be playing the second night of back-to-back games, they are due to go off. They have had two low-scoring shutout losses in a row and can usually avoid long losing streaks. They will definitely play frustrated. The Canadiens' defense is trending down, and the offense has been inconsistent. A good first period will set the tone for this one.