NHL: 5 stories from Monday night

The Canadiens' struggles against a pesky division rival continued, the Canucks and Flames can rest comfortably in the playoff picture, at least for the time being, the Kings suffered another setback, while the Sabres and Coyotes met again to settle a score at the opposite end of the spectrum.

Here are five stories from Monday night's NHL action:

Canadiens have a nemesis

The result was all too familiar as the Lightning defeated the Canadiens 5-3 to complete a sweep of the five-game season series between the teams.

P.K. Subban found the back of the net on a man advantage late in the third period to make it a one-goal game.

However, Tampa responded with an empty-netter to spoil any hopes of a comeback for the home team.

The Canadiens remain at the top of the Atlantic Division with 102 points, but they are clinging to a one-point lead over the Lightning, a team they clearly can't solve so far in 2014-15.

But the bottom line is that both teams have already punched their tickets to the post-season.

Canucks take care of business

The Canucks got on the board first and never trailed in a 4-1 win over the Blues on the road in St. Louis.

Chris Tanev threaded the needle to Shawn Matthias for a nifty breakaway goal to get the ball rolling early in the first period.

Nick Bonino scored the go-ahead goal for Vancouver just after the mid-point of the middle frame and Eddie Lack turned in a solid performance, making 23 saves.

St. Louis was in need of a victory in order to clinch a spot in a jumbled Western Conference playoff race, while the Canucks were able to keep their hold on the second seed in the Pacific Division with 93 points.

Flames keep pace

The Flames once again took matters into their own hands by following up a victory on Sunday with a 5-3 triumph in Dallas.

Calgary defenceman Raphael Diaz gets the nod for highlight of the game for this beauty of a goal in the second period.

The Flames are now three points up on the Kings for the the third spot in the Pacific, while the two-point margin behind the Canucks remains the same.

Royal loss for the Kings

The Kings may receive a thank-you card from the Canucks and Flames after being outdone 4-1 by the Blackhawks.

Los Angeles wouldn't have been able to climb back into the playoff picture anyway with Calgary winning, but the margin between them now widens to three points for the final spot in the Pacific.

The Kings are also two points behind Winnipeg for the second and final wild-card spot.

McDavid Bowl: Round 2

There is a fine line between winning and losing when the ultimate goal is to finish last in the standings to secure the best odds of landing the top pick in the draft.

But in simple terms the Sabres defeated the Coyotes 4-1 to "avenge" a loss from their previous meeting last week.

Overall, Buffalo is leading where it counts as they own the basement with 50 points, four points "ahead" of Arizona.