In his first appearance in Tampa as a head coach Marty St. Louis watched his Montreal Canadiens team take it to, and eventually beat, the defending Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning, 5-4, in a shootout on Saturday night. Nick Suzuki scored the lone goal in the shootout on a nice backhand move to provide the winning margin.
Despite numerous gaffes and turnovers the Lightning had a first period lead thanks to goals by Steven Stamkos and Anthony Cirelli. They also had a two-goal lead in the second period compliments of a Nikita Kucherov power play goal and a lead going into the third period due to a Brayden Point goal at the end of the second.