FHN TODAY: Former Florida Panthers Leading Montreal Canadiens

The rebuilding Montreal Canadiens have won their past two games and can tie their best run of this season Thursday night by beating the visiting Florida Panthers.

And a couple former members of the Panthers are leading the charge.

Montreal, which has won three of four and four of its past six, is finding some success thanks to the play of two forwards the Panthers let walk as free agents after the 2019-20 season — and the goalie they placed on waivers in 2021.

In Tuesday’s win over Winnipeg, Evgenii Dadonov — who once played the right side of Florida’s top line with Sasha Barkov and Jonathan Huberdeau — had two goals.

Mike Hoffman, who led the Panthers with 29 goals in 2019-20, scored once.

It was a nice game by two players who have not added much offensive production for the Canadiens this season. Hoffman is eighth on the team in scoring with five goals and 13 points; Dadonov is 10th with four goals and 12 points.

Sam Montembeault, however, has been very solid for the Canadiens. He had 25 saves on Tuesday as he improved to 9-7-2.

Aside from the Panthers being in Montreal, news from around the league includes more trade talk (Bo Horvat to Boston?), more Ivan Provorov fallout in Philly and a minor deal between the Sharks and Red Wings.

FLORIDA HOCKEY NOW

So, who should join Matthew Tkachuk from the Florida Panthers at NHL All-Star Weekend here in South Florida?

Brandon Montour certainly deserves it.

— As of Wednesday night, the NHL had not publicly come down on Paul Maurice after his postgame comments ripping the officiating — and, the NHL’s scheduling — following Florida’s 5-4 overtime loss to the Leafs.

So far this season, Toronto’s Sheldon Keefe and Winnipeg’s Rick Bowness have been fined $25,000 each by the league for various infractions including being critical of the officiating.

— The FHN YouTube Channel has everything Maurice had to say in his postgame rant as well as comments from Barkov and Aaron Ekblad. 

Click RIGHT HERE to see everything all in one place and if you hit subscribe (it’s free), you will know when new content comes up.

NATIONAL HOCKEY NOW

It looks like the Canucks are going to trade captain Bo Horvat sooner than later and it sounds like talks are heating up with the Boston Bruins.

— Ivan Provorov and his decision not to wear the Philadelphia Flyers’ Pride Night warmup jersey is drawing mixed reviews. To put it mildly.

— Checking out potential suitors for Montreal Canadiens defenseman Joel Edmundson.

— Ville Husso has not been the game-saver for the Detroit Red Wings as he was earlier in the season.

— The San Jose Sharks made a trade with Detroit on Wednesday.

— More injury news for the Colorado Avalanche as Cale Makar is day-to-day and missed last night’s game against the Flames.

— Think Johnny Gaudreau will be booed by the Calgary Flames’ faithful when he returns with the Blue Jackets next week? He does.

— Fans of the Vegas Golden Knights are going to be impacted by construction on I-15. Will probably affect those going to In-And-Out as well.

PANTHERS ON DECK

FLORIDA PANTHERS AT MONTREAL CANADIENS 

• When: Thursday, 7 p.m.
• Where: Bell Center, Montreal
• TV/Streaming: Bally Sports Florida, ESPN+
• Radio: WPOW 96.5-FM2; WBZT 1230-AM (Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); SiriusXM
• Panthers Radio Streaming: SiriusXM 932
• Last season: Florida won 3-1
• This season (Florida leads 1-0): Panthers 7, Canadiens 2 (Dec. 29)
• All-time regular season series: Florida leads 52-38-11, 6 ties
• Up Next for the Panthers: Saturday vs. Minnesota, 6 p.m.