[Big T]

March 15th, 1983

Montreal Canadiens (46-27-4) at Tampa Bay Lightning (39-31-6)

With just 5 games left on the schedule, Montreal must find their game and hopefully take a shot at 2nd place in the Atlantic and home ice in the 1st round.

Play-off Race
Atlantic	GP	W	L	OT	PTS	DIFF
Florida Panthers	78	45	23	10	100	65
Buffalo Sabres	76	36	23	7	99	48
Montreal Canadiens	77	46	27	4	96	47
Pacific	GP	W	L	OT	PTS	DIFF
Carolina Hurricanes	77	49	24	4	102	43
Washington Capitals	76	46	27	3	95	49
New York Islanders	77	42	38	7	91	9
Wild Card Race	GP	W	L	OT	PTS	DIFF
x-Boston Bruins	77	44	29	4	92	44
x-Pittsburgh Penguins	76	44	31	1	89	16
Tampa Bay Lightning	76	39	31	6	84	0
Columbus Blue Jackets	77	36	32	9	81	6

The last couple losses have put Montreal in tough to catch the 2nd seed in the Atlantic.

Tonights highlighted Hab is LD Marc-Andre Berube. The 33 year old just renewed for another 3 years with Montreal. This season he has played in 66 games, has 3 goals and 17 assists for 20 points, with 36 PIMs and a +11 rating. Primarily a defensive defenseman, over the past 3 seasons he has played in 202 games, has 12 goals and 62 points. Berube is usually plays the role of a stay at home defenseman.

Montreal has an opportunity to put a knife in the Lightning's playoff hopes. Tampa is 5 points out of the final Wild Card spot with 6 games left.

Montreal will start G Mike Blackshear, he has 38 wins in 62 games with a .904 save %. Tampa Bay starts G Evan Girard, he has 17 wins in 32 games with a .903 save %.

Montreal's C Jiri Reichel left the game early, with about 2 minutes in he left with a upper body injury. It did not look good as he left. Montreal does get on the board first, LW Batsaikhany Vanoosten gets his 10th of the year at 9:42 to make it 1-0. Tampa ties it up at 13:03 when RD Ben Stewart collects goal number 19 of the year. It is now 1-1. Montreal gets one back quickly, LW Al Ladd gets his 25th of the year at 13:59 to make it 2-1 Montreal. The period ends with Montreal out shooting Tampa Bay 14 to 5.

Tampa Bay scores early in the 2nd to tie it 2-2. C Yann Boulanger gets his 29th of the season at 1:31. Tampa has 2 goals on just 6 shots. Montreal grabs a 3-2 lead at 12:33 when C Melvin Swiney gets his 8th goal of the season. Montreal out shot Tampa Bay 12 to 4 in the 2nd period.

Montreal goes up 4-2 at 14:55 of the 3rd period when LW Al Ladd gets his 2nd of the game. Montreal gets back on the winning track with a 4-2 win. The Canadiens out shoot the Lightning 10 to 5 in the 3rd period. Montreal was 0 for 6 on the PP while Tampa was 0 for 2.

Montreal's Batsaikhany Vanoosten was the 1st star with a goal and an assist. The 29 year old now has 10 goals and 28 points with 28 PIMs and a +2 rating in 76 games. In 240 career NHL games with Montreal he has 35 goals, 116 points, 84 PIMs and a +19 rating.

Montreal 4 Tampa Bay 2

PER TEAM GOAL # ASSIST ASSIST
1st MTL Batsaikhany Vanoosten 10 Ronnie Marvin Marc-Andre Berube
1st TBY Ben Stewart 19 Mark Wiebe Doug Harrison
1st MTL Al Ladd 26 Yevgeny Ronov Jiri Bohm
2nd TBY Yann Boulanger 29 Brett Smith Gene Schuler
2nd MTL Melvin Swiney 8 Batsaikhany Vanoosten Matej Ouhrabka
3rd MTL Al Ladd 27 John Herrod Chris Hughes

MAJOR's
PER TEAM PLAYER MIN PENALTY
3rd MTL Dave Wright 5 Fighting
3rd TBY Ben Stewart 5 Fighting
3rd TBY Gene Schuler 10 Misconduct

TEAM GOALIE SA GA
MTL Mike Blackshear 14 2
TBY Evan Girard 36 4


Around the league...............

Pittsburgh Penguins G Sawyer Derkson has signed a 6 year, $67.2 M extension today. The 29 year now has 39 wins, 2.45 GAA and a .915 save % with 6 SO's in 67 games this season. In 201 career NHL games he has a 106-83-10 record with 2.51 GAA, a .914 save % and 15 SO's.

Montreal Canadiens C Jiri Reichel will miss the remainder of the season with a partially torn labrum. The 19 year old is expected to be out for 4 months. In 36 games this season, he had 6 goals and 10 assists for 16 points with 22 PIMs and a +8 rating. Reichel is a two-way forward that was used in a counter attacking role. In his 1st season in professional hockey he played with the IceCaps of the AHL as well this year and had 16 points in 17 games. After finishing his OHL career with the Sudbury Wolves, he was drafted by the Canadiens in the 2nd round, 44th overall pick in the 1982 NHL Entry Draft.

Montreal Canadiens have recalled LW Dave Lyon from the AHL St John's IceCaps. The 20 year old had 15 goals and 38 points in 38 games for St John's. Earlier this season Lyon played 22 games with Montreal and had 2 goals and an assist. In his 2nd season of professional hockey, Lyon has played in 63 NHL games including 41 with the Wild. He has 4 goals and 9 points in his NHL career. Montreal acquired Lyon as a free agent. The Wild originally drafted him 95th overall in the 1981 NHL Entry Draft.

Carolina Hurricanes G Tom Peyton made 26 saves in a 3-0 win over the Bruins. The 27 year old now has 42 wins with a 2.51 GAA, a .914 save % and 3 SO's in 64 games this season. The 1981 All-Star is in his 2nd NHL season, has played in 95 games, has a 53-31-8 record with a 2.55 GAA, a .913 save % and 7 SO's.

Detroit Red Wings C Aaron Swanson had a goal in a 2-1 win over the Sabres. The 27 year old Swanson now has 34 goals and 74 points in 79 games. The 2-time All-Star has 78 career NHL goals, 216 points, 224 PIMs and a +37 rating in 223 NHL games.

Chicago Blackhawks C Willie Dziemianko had 2 goals in a 2-1 win over the Penguins. The 19 year old rookie now has 33 goals and 69 points with 64 PIMs in 77 games. While with the Prince George Cougars of the WHL, he was selected 19th overall by the Chicago in the 1981 NHL Entry Draft.