Florida Panthers
Montreal Canadiens Continue to Own Florida Panthers
SUNRISE — Sometimes, one team just has another’s number, and that seems to be the case this season when it comes to the Montreal Canadiens and Florida Panthers.
Montreal may be fighting for its playoff life, but their three wins against the Panthers has certainly helped the effort.
After losing to the Canadiens 4-2 on Sunday afternoon, the Panthers were probably glad to see them go.
Only the two teams play again Tuesday night in Montreal.
No way the Canadiens will win all four games between the two, right?
Right?
“No excuses,’’ said Sasha Barkov, who was playing in his 800th NHL game. “They played better than us in all three games.
“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.”
Montreal outplayed the Panthers in the first two wins earlier this season but Sunday was pretty tight.
Still, the Canadiens never trailed Sunday.
Montreal had leads of 1-0 and 2-1 with Sam Reinhart and Seth Jones tying it up for the Panthers.
But Nick Suzuki one-timed a Lane Hutson feed from the bottom of the left circle just over 2 minutes into the third.
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An empty-net goal later, and the Canadiens were 3-0 against the defending Stanley Cup champs and snapped Florida’s seven-game home winning streak.
The two teams play again on Tuesday night.
The Canadiens have not swept the reigning Stanley Cup champions since they won three against the Edmonton Oilers during the 1987-88 series.
Montreal’s first two goals came on the power play with Suzuki and Hutson having three-point days.
“This was a pretty good 5-on-5 game I would say,” said Paul Maurice, who wasn’t in the greatest of moods in the postgame. “We are fine. We have played in a lot of tight games; that’s just the style of hockey that we play, and it was even.”
ON DECK: GAME No. 74
FLORIDA PANTHERS at MONTREAL CANADIENS
- When: Tuesday, 7 p.m.
- Where: Bell Centre, Montreal
- Local TV: Scripps Sports — WSFL 39 (Miami/FtL); WHDT 9 (WPB); LAFF 36.3 (SWFla)
- Streaming: Panthers+, ESPN+
- Radio: WPOW 96.5-FM2; WBZT 1230-AM (Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); SiriusXM
- Panthers Radio Streaming: SiriusXM 932, NHL App
- Last Season: Florida won 3-1
- This Season (Canadiens Lead 3-0) — At Montreal: Canadiens 3, Panthers 1 (March 15); Tuesday. At Florida: Canadiens 4, Panthers 0 (Dec. 28); Canadiens 4, Panthers 2 (March 30).
- All-time Regular Season Series: Florida leads 58-42-11, 6 ties
- Up Next for the Panthers: Wednesday at Toronto Maple Leafs, 7:30 p.m.
