Suzuki helps Canadiens get past Panthers, move into wild card

SUNRISE, Fla. -- Nick Suzuki scored the go-ahead goal early in the third period and had two assists, helping the Montreal Canadiens to a 4-2 victory against the Florida Panthers at Amerant Bank Arena on Sunday.

Juraj Slafkovsky had a goal and an assist on his 21st birthday, and Lane Hutson had three assists for the Canadiens (34-30-9), who had lost five straight (0-3-2) before defeating the Panthers for the third time in three games this season. Sam Montembeault made 24 saves.

Montreal had lost the first three of its four-game road trip, getting outscored 16-6.

“It was definitely important to get the win today,” said Suzuki, the Canadiens captain. “The road trip, obviously, wasn’t that great for us. But I felt like, if we got the win today, it would put us in good position going home. It was much needed.”

Montreal tied the New York Rangers for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference with a game in hand.

“We know we have that, and sometimes for some reason, it slips away,” Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis said in praising his team’s effort. “In 82 games, they’re all not going to look like that. We have to play a high percentage of these kinds of games down the stretch.”

Sam Reinhart and Seth Jones scored for the Panthers (44-26-3), who had won seven straight home games. Aleksander Barkov had two assists in his 800th NHL game, and Sergei Bobrovsky made 18 saves.

Florida remained tied with the Tampa Bay Lightning for second in the Atlantic Division, three points behind the Toronto Maple Leafs. Toronto has played one more game.

“No excuses. They played better than us in all three games,” said Barkov, the Panthers captain. “We obviously had some good moments in the game, but we couldn’t score more than them. They hung in, got the goals they needed. They play really hard, their [playoff] lives are on the line. We have to be better, that’s all.”

The teams play again in Montreal on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; RDS, TSN2, SCRIPPS) to complete the home-and-home and the season series.

Patrik Laine gave Montreal a 1-0 lead on the power play at 12:03 of the first period, one-timing a feed from Hutson in the left face-off circle.

Reinhart tied it 1-1 at 13:16. He picked up the puck following a turnover deep in the right corner, went to the net and beat Montembeault with a backhand.

Montreal’s second power-play goal made it 2-1 at 11:27 of the second period. Slafkovsky’s cross-crease pass clipped the skate of Jones before the puck went in off Bobrovsky’s stick.

“We had a good day off [Saturday], everyone rested, and we were ready to get the two points,” Slafkovsky said. “It was a bounce forward from last week, and everyone fought out there. We have to keep going. It’s not about one win. We have nine left, and we have to keep grabbing points.”

Jones tied it 2-2 at 16:25, scoring from above the right circle by one-timing a Barkov pass.

Suzuki scored at 2:02 of the third to give the Canadiens their third lead of the game at 3-2. He took a cross-ice pass from Hutson and scored with a one-timer from low in the left circle.

“The two power-play goals are the biggest piece,” Florida coach Paul Maurice said. “I think we had [23 shots] blocked tonight, missed the net [on] another [21]. So, we let a lot of offense die in that game.”

Brendan Gallagher scored into an empty net at 18:16 for the 4-2 final.

NOTES: Laine scored the 85th power-play goal of his NHL career, passing Barkov for fifth-most by a Finland-born player. … Hutson has 23 primary assists this season. The last rookie defenseman with more in a season was Nicklas Lidstrom (24) for the Detroit Red Wings in 1991-92. Hutson leads NHL rookies with 59 points (five goals, 54 assists) in 73 games. … The only time the Canadiens have swept the defending Stanley Cup champions (minimum three games) came during the 1987-88 season, when they won all three against the Edmonton Oilers.