Tampa extends Montreal's losing streak.

One of the worse team of the Eastern conference this season, the Tampa Bay Lightning, extended Montreal's current losing streak tonight with a 3-2 win.

The Montreal Canadiens began the match very well when Christopher Higgins scored the first goal of the game only 50 seconds into the first period. The team briefly looked like it was able to snap out of the current losing streak.

But the generosity of goaltender Christobal Huet kept the Lightning in the game. First a very bad rebound on a soft shot was given by the goaltender allowing Michel Ouellet to open the score for Tampa.

A great play from Mark Streit allowed Tomas Plekanec to score his 21st goal of the season, sending Montreal ahead in the game once again. But a harmless shot from Vaclav Prospal during the final minute of the first period went past Huet, tying the game at 2-2 after one period.

Tampa took the control of the game from the second period on registering 27 shots on Montreal's net during the last two periods of the game while the Canadiens only managed to shoot 12 times on Kari Ramo's net.

Vaclav Prospal scored his second goal of the game halfway into the third period, sealing the victory for Tampa Bay. The Canadiens were never able to answer back with a goal of their own until the end.

Montreal has now lost three games in a row and there is no rest in sight for them. The Canadiens will play the Florida Panthers tomorrow evening.

At this point into the season, a long losing streak will drag the team down in the standings. The team just a week ago looked like it would qualify easily into the playoffs. Now, they are only a couple of losses away from being out of playoff contention.

(Picture: Brad Richards, Vaclav Prospal and Vincent Lecavalier, Canadian Press.)