SUNRISE, Fla. – In their first action out of the holiday break, the Florida Panthers struggled to get to their game in a 4-0 loss to the Montreal Canadiens at Amerant Bank Arena on Saturday.
With the loss, the Panthers now sit at 22-13-2.
“The game demands a certain level of intensity to give yourself a chance, and we weren’t close to that today,” head coach Paul Maurice said.
In defeat, the Panthers led 28-13 in scoring chances.
Still, players feel they were a step behind.
“I think it was on us,” forward Sam Bennett said. “We came out flat and didn’t generate too much. We didn’t have too much jump, and they had a lot of jump. Yeah, it was on us.”
With both teams getting back into the swing of things coming out of the holiday break, the first period came and went with no goals for either side. The biggest play of the period came with just under two minutes left when Spencer Knight stoned Christian Dvorak off the rush.
Finishing off a nifty passing sequence, Kirby Dach opened the scoring for the Canadiens when he beat Knight when a shot from the slot to make it 1-0 ta 1:39 of the second period.
Catching the Panthers in a change, Dach doubled the lead for Montreal when he took a stretch pass from Alex Newhook and cashed in on a breakaway to make it 2-0 at 13:51.
With the Panthers on the power play, the Canadiens capitalized on a neutral-zone turnover and added to their lead when Jake Evans opted to keep the puck for himself on a 2-on-1 rush and ripped a wicked shot into the twine from the left circle to make it 3-0 at 17:19.
At 14:17 of the third period, Cole Caufield extended Montreal’s lead to 4-0.
“I don’t think we ever got to the level you need to get to in order to give yourself a chance to win a game,” Maurice said. “We allowed it to be even through the first part of that game. You make a few mistakes – and they’re big ones – and then you’re chasing the game.”
Earning a shutout in his NHL debut, rookie goaltender Jakub Dobes finished with 34 saves.
“Good for him,” Maurice said of Dobes. “They did a good job of allowing to see a bunch of the stuff from the outside, which is really where you can get after a young goaltender. We didn’t get to where we need to on those, but good for him. Their goaltender played hard.”
THEY SAID IT
“I didn’t feel like there was a lot of extended D-zone time. We didn’t move the puck well enough. But I don’t like looking at execution. There’s a bunch of reasons why you can’t move a puck.” – Paul Maurice
“It could be a bunch of things. Probably just coming off the break we were a little too relaxed going into that game. We needed a little bit more intensity. It wasn’t our night.” – Sam Bennett
CATS STATS
- The Panthers led 25-11 in scoring chances at 5-on-5, per NaturalStatTrick.com.
- Aleksander Barkov and Anton Lundell each won 10 face-offs.
- Sam Bennett recorded a team-high three hits.
- Six Panthers defensemen recorded multiple shots on goal.
- Gustav Forsling saw a team-high 23:17 of ice time.
WHAT’S NEXT?
The Panthers will try to get back to their goal-scoring ways when they host the New York Rangers at Amerant Bank Arena on Monday at 7 p.m. ET.
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