Florida Panthers
Paul Maurice: Florida Panthers ‘Own’ Loss in Montreal
Florida Panthers coach Paul Maurice did not want to publicly rip his team’s effort Saturday night in Montreal.
Doing so, he reasoned, would take away from a spirited, hard-fought, and well earned win by a Canadiens team fighting for every point it can get in a razor-thin playoff race.
Still, to anyone who watched Saturday’s 3-1 loss to the Canadiens could tell the Panthers simply did not bring their best.
After all these years, Maurice can hold his tongue — while letting his feelings completely be known.
The Panthers were not good on Saturday night.
At all.
“I don’t want to tell you how I thought we played because I want to be respectful of the effort [of] Montreal. They played hard,” Maurice said.
“I can’t really give you an assessment of how good that was because I’m not sure how that relates to how we played. We own that one. Our play, that was on us. We would have to play considerably better to assess what the other team did to us. They beat us. They’re in a fight for their lives, and they played their butts off and that should be the story here.’’
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Montreal, coming off a tough road trip, seemed energized by a Saturday night crowd with something, truly, to root for in their beloved Canadiens for the first time in years.
Montreal is right in the thick of a playoff race after years of a rebuild, and, the atmosphere at Bell Centre was electric.
The Panthers did not respond.
On Montreal’s first power play of the night, Patrik Laine got three cracks at the net from the left circle and put No. 3 past Sergei Bobrovsky at 5:15.
It could have been 3-0 after 20 had it not been for a goalie interference call on Brendan Gallagher.
The Panthers played a much better second, but only got Mackie Samoskevich’s shot from the left circle past Sam Montembeault.
And, Samoskevich’s 13th of the season would be Florida’s only goal on 22 shots.
It was not a night to write home about.
Although it seemed to be a fun night in Montreal.
“Montreal was good,’’ Maurice said. “Good for them.’’
The Panthers have lost two of three on this six-game road trip, with No. 4 coming tonight on Long Island.
Although Saturday night was ugly, Maurice pointed out that he has been very happy with the way his team has played throughout 2025. Up until Saturday night, that is.
So, the Panthers moved on through customs and will take on the Islanders tonight.
That could be that.
“We’re going to leave this one here,’’ Maurice said.
ON DECK: GAME No. 68
FLORIDA PANTHERS at NEW YORK ISLANDERS
- When: Sunday, 7:30 p.m.
- Where: UBS Arena; Elmont, N.Y.
- 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: Islanders Won 2-1
- This Season (Panthers Lead 2-0) — At Islanders: Panthers 6, Islanders 3 (Oct. 26); March 16. At Florida: Panthers 6, Islanders 3 (Feb. 2).
- All-time Regular Season Series: Panthers lead 59-34-11, 8 ties
- Next Up for the Panthers: Thursday at Columbus Blue Jackets, 7 p.m.
