The Montreal Canadiens suddenly are in a playoff race following a strong 16-game run.

The Canadiens will try to boost their chances Tuesday night when they host the Tampa Bay Lightning in the second of three matchups between the Atlantic Division rivals this season.

Dating to a 6-1 home win over the Buffalo Sabres on Dec. 17, Montreal has a 12-3-1 mark in the past 16 matches.

Before beating Buffalo, the Canadiens were 11-16-3, sitting last in the Eastern Conference and gridding as the NHL's third-worst club, ahead of only the Chicago Blackhawks and Nashville Predators.

The Canadiens now are only two points out of the conference's final wild-card playoff spot.

On Saturday, in the start of six home matches in a stretch of seven, the Canadiens bolted to a 3-0 lead in an Original Six clash against Toronto before the Maple Leafs netted seven unanswered times in a 7-3 rout.

"I think it's sometimes good to get a little punch in the teeth and kind of remind us how good every team is in the league," Montreal defenseman Mike Matheson said. "And while saying that, also not losing our confidence or anything like that.

"I think we can realize that we've been playing some really good hockey and that we just need to get back to that."

That attitude may have carried over Sunday, as the Canadiens rallied to beat the visiting New York Rangers 5-4 behind Patrik Laine's overtime goal.

Defenseman Lane Hutson extended his streaks in points and assists to eight games (one goal, 11 assists) by setting up Juraj Slafkovsky's goal in the third period.

Hutson, 20, matched Barry Beck of the 1977-78 Colorado Rockies for the second-longest assist streak by a rookie blue-liner, a record set by Shayne Gostisbehere (nine straight) for the 2015-16 Philadelphia Flyers.

In their third matchup with the division-leading Toronto Maple Leafs Monday night, the Lightning opened their four-game road trip with the first of two back-to-back sets.

Tampa Bay trailed for nearly 56 minutes, cut the deficit to one goal on three occasions, but fell 5-3 to the Leafs.

Nick Paul had two tallies to reach 12 for the season, while Darren Raddysh stretched his point streak to four games (one goal, five assists) with two assists.

Lightning coach Jon Cooper said his group was plagued by a recent problem: Getting behind by not starting on time.

"Too many times in the last couple of weeks here we're basically playing a two-period game," Cooper said. "We've gotten away with it at times, but for the most part, we haven't.

"Tonight, it was a two-period game again for us. Against good teams like that, you don't have much of a chance."

With backup goaltender Jonas Johansson facing Toronto, the Lightning likely will turn to Andrei Vasilevskiy for his 36th start of the season on Tuesday.

The 30-year-old Vasilevskiy sports a 20-13-2 record with a 2.35 goals-against average, a .916 save percentage and two shutouts.

Vasilevskiy is 5-4-1 in his past 10 starts but has won his two previous outings, against the Anaheim Ducks and Detroit Red Wings.

On Dec. 29 in Tampa, Montreal's Sam Montembeault stopped 21 shots, and five different Canadiens scored a goal in the visitors' 5-2 win over the Lightning.

--Field Level Media

Quickchart Matchup

Tampa Bay Off vs  Montreal Def

3.64 GF 3.33 GA 28.6 Shots 28.8 Shots 36 PP 30 PK

Montreal Off vs  Tampa Bay Def

3.04 GF 2.82 GA 26 Shots 28.8 Shots 29 PP 22 PK