Suzuki scores 2 late, Canadiens top Panthers in OT to break wild card tie

MONTREAL -- Nick Suzuki tied it with nine seconds left in the third period before scoring 29 seconds into overtime for the Montreal Canadiens, who rallied for a 3-2 win against the Florida Panthers at Bell Centre on Tuesday.

Suzuki scored on a wraparound to win it. His first goal, which tied it 2-2, came after he recovered a shot from the left point by Lane Hutson and put in a backhand inside the right post.

“The crowd really kept us going there, especially in the third,” Suzuki said. “We weren’t generating a lot of chances, but the wave gets going, the guys get fired up and it really pushed us to the end there. It’s so much fun playing here, especially in games like this.”

Josh Anderson also scored, and Hutson had three assists for the Canadiens (35-30-9), who won 4-2 at Florida on Sunday in the first game of the home-and-home set after losing five in a row. Sam Montembeault made 25 saves.

Montreal is two points ahead of the Columbus Blue Jackets for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference. Columbus has one game in hand.

“You get up for these games,” Canadiens defenseman Kaiden Guhle said. “It’s do-or-die for us right now. The pressure is on us, and you want that pressure. And I think we’re thriving with it right now and when the fans are how they are tonight, and the energy that’s in the building and you score with eight seconds left to tie it and win in overtime, it’s pretty unbelievable.

“I’m so proud of this group. There’s no quit in us.”

Niko Mikkola and Mackie Samoskevich scored, and Vitek Vanecek made 18 saves for the Panthers (44-26-4), who had won three of five.

Florida is one point behind the Tampa Bay Lightning for second place in the Atlantic Division, and two behind the Toronto Maple Leafs for first.

“We had given up three shots in the third, that’s pretty good, solid,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. “I didn’t think we were sitting back. I thought we were fairly aggressive with our game. And then you get just a bad break, and once every 82 games you’re going to get one of those and we’ll leave it here.”

Anderson gave Montreal a 1-0 lead at 4:43 of the first period when he deflected Kaiden Guhle’s shot from the left point past Vanecek.

Mikkola tied it 1-1 at 10:37. His wrist shot from the outside edge of the left face-off circle deflected off Canadiens forward Jake Evans’ stick and got past Montembeault stick side.

A.J. Greer appeared to score for Florida at 12:58, but the goal was immediately waved off. Video review confirmed that the Panthers forward used a distinct kicking motion to knock the puck into the net.

Samoskevich put Florida ahead 2-1 with a power-play goal at 18:47 of the second period when his wrist shot from the top of the left circle went in off Guhle.

“Obviously we didn’t get the result we wanted, but credit to them,” Samoskevich said. “They’re in a playoff sprint here, so they’re not giving up, for sure. With that said, I still liked our third period. I feel like we didn’t give up much in that third and played pretty well. So not the result we wanted, but it’s going to happen.”

Hutson has 57 assists, breaking the Canadiens’ record for assists by a rookie defenseman set by Chris Chelios, who had 55 in 1984-85. Larry Murphy set the NHL record for assists by a rookie defenseman with 60 in 1980-81.

It was Hutson’s 15th multiassist game of the season, one ahead of Murphy and second only to Chelios, who had 16 during his rookie season.

“He’s a legend, right?” Hutson said about Chelios. “Me growing up in Chicago, just hearing about him, too, it’s cool to hear for sure but a lot of things have gone right and it’s just been a fun season.”

NOTES: Panthers forward Nico Sturm left the game at 3:17 of the first period and did not return after colliding with linemate Greer at center ice. “We’ll get him looked at again tomorrow,” Maurice said. “He didn’t feel he could come back, so we’ll get him assessed tomorrow.” … Suzuki’s two goals in 40 seconds are the third-fastest pair of goals by the same player in regulation and overtime in NHL history, behind Alex Ovechkin (37 seconds on Dec. 15, 2006) and Mikko Rantanen (38 seconds on Dec. 11, 2022). … Hutson, who has 62 points (five goals, 57 assists), is the first rookie NHL defenseman to reach 60 points since Nicklas Lidstrom in 1991-92.