The Montreal Canadiens have been on an incredible run as of late, winning their last five, and have a chance to put themselves squarely back in the division race with a win over the Tampa Bay Lightning. It has been an impressive turnaround for this team, with all five wins coming against teams currently in the playoffs, including two against the Carolina Hurricanes.
There have been a number of reasons for the win streak they are on, including the performance of Jakub Dobes. The Canadiens' goaltender won three of the five games and earned the first star for the week from the NHL.
The Canadiens scoring is also up over this five game win streak as they have averaged 4.2 goals per game. However, it isn't just the number of goals but when the Canadiens are scoring those goals.
Montreal Canadiens are dominating the second period during this win streak
Before this win streak, the Canadiens had struggled somewhat in the second period and had been out-scored by their opponents 84 to 76. However, over the last five games, the Canadiens have out-scored their opponents 10-0 in the middle period.
The last two games in particular have really been able to set the tone and almost put the game out of reach by the second intermission, as Montreal has scored three goals in each of the second periods against the Nashville Predators and Carolina Hurricanes.
The performance during the second period has been a big momentum swing because in three of their last five games, Montreal entered this period down to their opponent. However, they were able to take the lead in two of those games, with the other one having the score tied.
If the Canadiens want to make a real run at winning the Atlantic Division, they are going to have to go through the Lightning. They still play them twice in their final nine regular-season games while already losing their first two meetings.
In the two games already played, the Canadiens were out-scored 4-1 in the second period and 7-1 over the first two periods. If the Canadiens are able to continue to win that second period, it is going to set them up to have a real chance to get their first win of the season against Tampa and extend their win streak to six games on Tuesday night.