The Florida Panthers outshot the Montreal Canadiens 43-to-25, but could not find a way to finish, losing the contest 3-2.
The first period would see the Cats and the Canadiens match zeroes, with each team also directing 18 shots towards the others net. The Habs led in the shots on goal category by a 13-to-9 mark.
In the second period, the two clubs totaled five goals. The onslaught began with Aleksander Barkov‘s 12th of the season, when he batted home the loose puck between three Habs and fooled Dustin Tokarski. Jonathan Huberdeau earned an assist on the play, which occurred at the 4:20 mark. Barkov also won 10-of-16 faceoffs on the night.
Just 1:24 later, the Habs locked it up at one with Alexei Emelin beating Dan Ellis after Brian Campbell lost a battle for the puck behind Florida’s net. It was only Emelin’s third goal of the campaign, with assists from Brandon Prust and Dale Weise.
A Manny Malhotra penalty and a resultant Florida power play did not yield the best of results for the Cats, as a defensive breakdown led to an almost incomprehensible two-on-zero rush. Ellis stood no chance at stopping Jacob De La Rose’s third goal of the year, off a perfect cross-ice feed from Prust.
Brandon Pirri provided the equalizer at 13:35 – his third in three games and his 16th of the season. The marker was courtesy of assists from Brad Boyes and Nick Bjugstad, but mostly due to good positioning on the part of Pirri, who totaled 10 shots on goal. Bjugstad took six shots on the night.
Florida’s relief lasted less than two minutes, when P.K. Subban earned his 13th of the year off of another lost battle on the part of Campbell behind Ellis’ crease. Lars Eller was awarded the only assist on the play.
In the third period, the Panthers outshot the Habs 21-to-4, hitting Tokarski with everything including the kitchen sink, the microwave, and the food processor, but neither team added to the score. The game ended with Florida on the penalty kill, after Jaromir Jagr was called for hooking with 14 seconds left in regulation.
Derek MacKenzie finished the night with six hits to lead the Panthers. Resident pest Scottie Upshall had four. Eyes On The Prize has more on the Canadiens, but you can keep it here for all of your Panthers’ news.