The surging Florida Panthers (41-22-3) continue the trek north with a visit to the Montreal Canadiens (31-27-7) at Bell Centre in the first segment of a weekend back-to-back.
Florida, 11-2 in its last 13 games, solidified its hold on the top spot in the Atlantic Division with a key 3-2 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena on Thursday. It was largely about the Sams as Sam Bennett scored a pair of power-play goals, both assisted by team scoring leader Sam Reinhart and rookie Mackie Samoskevich. Niko Mikkola’s fifth goal of the season snapped a 1-1 tie and Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 23 of 25 shots.
The Canadiens are back on home ice after going 0-2-2 on a disappointing road trip against Pacific Division foes. Former Panther Brandon Montour sank the Canadiens in their last outing when he scored a record-setting four seconds into overtime to give the Kraken a 5-4 win. Despite the mini-slump, Montreal is just one point out of the final wild card spot in the Eastern Conference, which is currently held by Columbus.
- WHEN: 7 p.m. ET
- WHERE: Bell Centre – Montreal, QC
- ON THE TUBE: Scripps, NHL Network
- ON THE DIAL: Radio Libre 790 (D/B), 1230 The Gambler (PB), Thunder 100.3 (Keys)
- SOCIALS: #TimeToHunt, #GoHabsGo, #FLAvsMON, @LitterBoxCats, LBC FaceBook
- ENEMY INTEL: Eyes On The Prize
- FLA IN SEASON SERIES: Game 2 of 4 (0-1)
- LAST MEETING: MON 4, @FLA 0 (Recap) – 12/28/2024
- NEXT MEETING: March 30, 2025
- PROJECTED STARTERS: Florida: Bobrovsky (28-14-2 .907 / 2.49 4SO) Montreal: Montembeault (23-21-4 .900 / 2.87 4SO)
- PLAYER STATS: Florida / Montreal
Saturday in the Atlantic (Standings/Panthers Playoff Chances)
- Vegas (39-19-7 85P) at BUFFALO (25-33-6 56P) 12:30 p.m.
- TAMPA BAY (37-23-5 79P) at BOSTON (30-29-8 68P) 7 p.m.
- OTTAWA (35-25-5 75P) at TORONTO (39-23-3 81P) 7 p.m.
Idle: DET (68P)