Although drafted in 1970 by the Detroit Red Wings, Lambert started his National Hockey League (NHL) career with the Montreal Canadiens in 1973.

Lambert is best known for scoring the winning goal in overtime of game seven of the 1979 Stanley Cup Semi-Finals against the Boston Bruins, the culmination of an exciting game most memorable for a career-damaging coaching error by Don Cherry with two minutes left in regulation.

After being traded to Montreal, a year after being drafted by the Red Wings, Lambert thought he would never make it to the NHL since the Canadiens had a young and talented squad.

It was his desire to get back to Detroit, which had an aging squad at the time, including Gordie Howe and Alex Delvecchio, that made him push himself to perform well with the Port Huron Flags since every young player at time knew they would probably have a chance to replace these players.

He stated in French, "During the first day at the camp, at the forum of Montreal, there was 80 players and I find myself next to Henri Richard, Yvan Cournoyer, Serge Savard, Jacques Lemaire, and Larry Robinson.