CANADIENS
Montreal

3-2

PANTHERS
Florida

Lineup

Forward lines and defense pairings 

[one_half]Pacioretty – Danault – Gallagher
Byron – Mitchell – Radulov
Lehkonen – Plekanec – Flynn
Carr – McCarron – Terry
[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Emelin – Weber
Beaulieu – Petry
Barberio – Johnston
[/one_half_last]

Goaltenders

Montoya
Price

Scratches

Zach Redmond, Sven Andrighetto

Injured Reserve

Alex Galchenyuk (knee), David Desharnais (knee), Greg Pateryn (ankle), Andrew Shaw (concussion), Andrei Markov (lower body)

Game Report

A few things we know. The Canadiens are’t playing very well on the road, and they were coming into Sunrise after a soul-crushing loss in Tampa the night before. And the Habs are regularly out-coached when they face the Panthers.

But Gerard Gallant is no longer behind the Florida bench. And the wheels have been coming off the Panthers team/organization this season.

It looked like the Canadiens would be on the wrong side of “puck luck” in the first period as a Jason Demers point shot was initially saved by Al Montoya but went off Shea Weber and into the Montreal goal.

At the other end, Panthers goaltender James Reimer was begging to be scored on. The Canadiens didn’t take advantage struggling to create dangerous opportunities and sustain offensive pressure. The Habs shooters made a shaky goaltender look pretty good for the better part of the game.

The game was of the scrambly variety, the type that is not particularly entertaining and one where the outcome is difficult to predict. So with the Canadiens not playing particularly well and getting just a little better than average goaltending, let’s focus on the positives.

Practically, Montreal may not have deserved the victory but the two points are needed and welcome.

Let’s forget about the weak goal given up to Vincent Trocheck and the adventures outside his crease. Al Montoya needed and got a win. And the highlight reel save in the second period helped erase any foibles. It was a satisfying victory for Montoya who had appeared in 45 games for the Panthers.

Brendan Gallagher looked to be heading for another game where he wasn’t going to be rewarded for his efforts. However, with less than three minutes left, he scored. It was Gallagher’s first goal since November 26th (a span of 13 games) and one that forced overtime. It was the kind of clutch goal that fans expect from a formerly clutch player.

Max Pacioretty feasts upon the Panthers. And don’t look now but the captain has 17 points in the last 16 games (including 11 goals.)

Phillip Danault is not a top-6 forward in anyone’s estimation. But he assisted on the Gallagher goal and scored the game-winner in overtime. He is making the most of his opportunity.

So the Canadiens, without Alex Galchenyuk and Andrei Markov beat the Panthers without Aleksander Barkov and Jonathan Huberdeau. And Michel Therrien bested Tom Rowe, sorta.

The Panthers blew another third period lead bringing their record to 1-1-3 for their five-game homestand.

Best to just bank the two points and enjoy the fact that just one more game remains in December.

~~~

▲     Phillip Danault, Max Pacioretty

▼     Torrey Mitchell

1.  Phillip Danault  MTL
2.  Vincent Trocheck  FLA
3.  Al Montoya  MTL

• “It was important for us to bounce back after the third period that we played [Wednesday]. Right from the get-go, I thought we dictated the game. We ended up losing a bit of momentum in the second when we took some penalties, but in the third we didn’t quit and we worked extremely hard and deserved that win.”

Brendan Gallagher

• “Everyone knows what I’ve been going through lately and hopefully I don’t have to wait that long for the next one.”

Al Montoya

• “It’s emotional. I’ve got a lot of buddies on that side. I put in a lot of hard work and time in with those guys and they gave me a great opportunity, and now I’m ready to seize it with another team and take it to another level.”

Quotes courtesy of NHL.com

Linesman Jonny Murray honored by #Habs & #FlaPanthers for reaching 1000-game milestone: #Canadiens #MTLvsFLA @CanadiensMTL @FlaPanthers pic.twitter.com/vNKZUqQ7gr

— Scouting The Refs (@ScoutingTheRefs) December 30, 2016

Sudbury native Ryan Johnston makes his season debut for the #Habs tonight @AllHabs

— Blain (@BlainPotvin_THW) December 30, 2016

https://twitter.com/Snakebite350/status/814656305650696194

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