Byron scores in shootout, Canadiens beat Lightning to snap winless skid
MONTREAL — It had been more than a month since Max Pacioretty scored a goal and, when he finally got one, it was in the midst of a goaltending duel.
Montreal’s Carey Price and Tampa Bay’s Andrei Vasilevskiy traded spectacular saves for most of the night, but Pacioretty managed to score his first goal since Nov. 30 and Paul Byron got the only goal in a shootout to lift the Canadiens to a 2-1 win over the Lightning on Thursday night.
The win ended the Canadiens’ five-game losing streak.
“No one will really understand what it’s like when you go from a stretch where you’re not scoring, getting robbed the first shift one game, getting one taken back (for offside) the next game, feeling confident in your game but not producing,” said Pacioretty, a five-time 30-goal man who has nine through the first half of this season.