Steven Stamkos scored two goals to lead the Tampa Bay Lightning to a 4-1 victory over the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night.
J.T. Miller and Yanni Gourde also scored for the Lightning, winners of nine of 13 games this season. Anton Stralman had three assists.
Andrei Vasilevskiy continued his dominant start in the nets, finishing with 34 saves in his seventh victory.
Max Domi scored the only goal for the Canadiens. Carey Price made 32 saves in the loss.
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The Lightning improved to 6-0-0 against Eastern Conference opponents this season.
The Canadiens jumped to an early lead when Domi scored on the game’s first shot just 58 seconds in.
Domi intercepted a clearing attempt by former Canadiens draft pick Mikhail Sergachev at the blue line, sidestepped a check by Adam Erne and then fired a wrist shot past Vasilevskiy for his seventh goal of the season.
It was the third time this season Domi scored in the first two minutes of a game.
After intense pressure by the Canadiens at the start, a boarding penalty by Nicolas Deslauriers changed the game’s momentum.
The Lightning scored as Deslauriers’s penalty expired. Stamkos beat Price with a one-timer at 13:42 of the first.
Miller made it 2-1 at 16:24 after a mid-air interception by Stralman gave Tampa Bay the puck in Montreal’s zone.
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Following a scoreless second period, Stamkos added to Tampa’s lead 52 seconds into the third with a precise wrist shot into the top of the net. It was his first multi-goal game of the season.
The Lightning are 3-0-0 this season when Stamkos scores.
Just one day after signing a six-year contract with the Lightning, Gourde added an insurance goal with 4:03 remaining as he swatted a loose puck in the crease across the goal line.
Montreal finished 0-for-4 with the man advantage. Montreal has not scored a power-play goal in its last 15 opportunities.
The Lightning have won five of their last six games against the Canadiens.
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