MONTREAL – The Florida Panthers will have revenge on their mind when they close the book on their season series with the Montreal Canadiens at Bell Centre on Tuesday.
The second half of a home-and-home, the Panthers have lost their three previous battles with the Canadiens this season, including a 4-2 defeat at Amerant Bank Arena on Sunday.
This time around, the Panthers hope to be the team coming away with two points.
“They’re a really good skating team,” head coach Paul Maurice said of Montreal. “With their back end, they can get to transition very quick. Different styles, possibly, from the first line to the other three, but the thing that connects them all is they can skate really, really well.”
Tied 2-2 after two periods on Sunday, Nick Suzuki scored the go-ahead goal early in the third period to put the Canadiens up 3-2. After the Panthers pulled their goaltender late in regulation for the 6-on-5 advantage, Montreal cashed in on the empty net to make it 4-2.
In the loss, the Panthers played well at 5-on-5 but surrendered two power-play goals.
Entering the matchup, Florida had boasted the NHL’s top penalty kill in March at 89.7%.
At 5-on-5, the Panthers led the Canadiens 28-18 in scoring chances on Sunday.
“They’re dangerous,” forward Brad Marchand said. “It doesn’t take much for them to create opportunities. You’ve got to take care of the puck, you can’t turn it over and give them easy looks. Their power play is very, very dangerous right now, so we’ve got to try and stay out of the box.”
Leading the Panthers in goals (36) and points (76), Sam Reinhart has scored three goals in his last three games. Second in scoring, Aleksander Barkov has logged 67 points (19 goals, 48 assists) and has also terrorized Montreal in his career to the tune of 25 goals in 38 games.
Set to make his fourth start with the Panthers after being acquired at the trade deadline, Vitek Vanecek will be between the pipes against the Canadiens. In three appearances with Florida, the 29-year-old veteran is 1-2-0 with a .897 save percentage and one shutout.
In a heated race for first place in the Atlantic Division, the Panthers (44-26-3) currently trail the Toronto Maple Leafs (45-25-4) by just three points for the top spot with a game in hand.
“It’s a big road trip just to finish off the year playing the right way, playing in playoff-like games,” forward Sam Bennett said. “It’s another big one tonight.”
In do-or-die mode, the Canadiens (34-30-9) are still in a precarious position.
Owning a 4-3-3 record over the last 10 games, Montreal is currently sitting in the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference, but has the same number of points as the New York Rangers (35-32-7) and just two more points than the Columbus Blue Jackets (33-30-9).
Prior to their win over the Panthers on Sunday, the Canadiens had been struggling mightily on the defensive side of the puck, surrendering 25 goals during a five-game losing streak.
Making a dent on the scoresheet in eight of his last 10 games, Suzuki leads Montreal in assists (54) and points (77), while Cole Caufield has scored the most goals (34). Third in scoring, Calder Trophy candidate Lane Hutson has tallied 59 points from the blue line.
After turning aside 24 of 26 shots during Sunday’s win in Sunrise, Sam Montembeault will man the crease against the Panthers once again. In 55 appearances this season, the 28-year-old goaltender has posted a 26-23-6 record, .899 save percentage and four shutouts.
“This is a big road trip,” Marchand said. “Right now, everyone is playing their best hockey. You’re not going to get any easy night. We just have to make sure we’re playing our best game.”
On the verge of punching their ticket to the playoffs, the Panthers can secure their spot if they defeat the Canadiens in regulation and the Blue Jackets lose to the Nashville Predators in regulation tonight.
THEY SAID IT
“They are a team that’s going to work. They kind of changed their style from what they were, so it’s an extremely tough test every time. To have another crack at them, is something you hope for.” – Sam Reinhart on facing the Canadiens
“Hopefully we can get to a point where he can start driving. You can do off-ice things to try and mitigate some of the conditioning loss, but he is going to have to get in some significant skates here, and I think we’re still a ways from that.” – Paul Maurice on Matthew Tkachuk’s rehab
FIVE CATS STATS
- Aleksander Barkov has logged an assist in each of his last three games.
- Seth Jones is averaging 25:49 of ice time per game since joining the Panthers.
-Sam Reinhart leads the Panthers with 20 road goals.
- Sam Bennett has scored nine goals in his last 19 games.
- The Panthers are 8-1-0 when Gustav Forsling scores a goal.
PROJECTED LINEUP (SUBJECT TO CHANGE)
Forwards
Carter Verhaeghe – Aleksander Barkov – Sam Reinhart
Mackie Samoskevich – Sam Bennett – Brad Marchand
Eetu Luostarinen – Anton Lundell – Jesper Boqvist
A.J. Greer – Nico Sturm – Evan Rodrigues
Defensemen
Gustav Forsling – Seth Jones
Niko Mikkola – Nate Schmidt
Tobias Bjornfot – Uvis Balinskis
Goaltenders
Vitek Vanecek
Sergei Bobrovsky
RECENT TRANSACTIONS:
- March 18: D Tobias Bjornfot recalled from Charlotte (AHL)
HOW TO WATCH/LISTEN
When: Tuesday, April 1 at 7 p.m. ET
Where: Bell Centre – Montreal, QC
TV & Streaming: Panthers+, WSFL-TV, WHDT, WFTX, ESPN+ (out of market)
Radio: 560 WQAM (Dade/Broward); 92.1 WZZR-FM (Palm Beach); 100.3 WCTH (Florida Keys); Panthers App; SiriusXM App & Streaming 931
Cats on Tap: Click Here
