5-3

Canadiens Lineup

Paul Byron – Max Domi – Jonathan Drouin

Tomas Tatar – Phillip Danault – Brendan Gallagher

Artturi Lehkonen – Jesperi Kotkaniemi – Andrew Shaw

Kenny Agostino – Michael Chaput – Nicolas Deslauriers

Victor Mete – Shea Weber

Mike Reilly – Jeff Petry

Brett Kulak – Jordie Benn

Antti Niemi – Michael McNiven

Matthew Peca, Charles Hudon, Karl Alzner

Joel Armia, David Schlemko, Carey Price

Game Report

The Canadiens came out on fire in this game. Florida looked like they were still enjoying their holiday break, napping on the sofa with a blaze in the fireplace. Before the clock rang three, the visitors had a 2-0 lead.

But the Canadiens were without their best player, left in Montreal due to an irritation. All the Panthers needed was five shots and they had two goals past Antti Niemi. It was a 2-2 tie heading to the dressing room for the first intermission.

For two teams in the top five in shots on goal, shots were just 16-15 after 40 minutes. The play opened up in the third period and the Florida defence faltered. Mike Matheson is a much better player than he showed on Friday night. 

The Canadiens took advantage of a weak defensive team making up for a shaky goaltending performance from Niemi. The Habs backup should be very grateful to his teammates for five wins this season despite struggling since the pre-season. After tonight’s outing, Niemi’s stats ‘improved’ to 4.01 GAA and .877 save percentage.

Artturi Lehkonen and Tomas Tatar were the best Canadiens up front in this game. Lehkonen scored the game-winner. Shea Weber had an assist, played over 27 minutes and finished plus-3 on the night.

Plus / Minus

▲  Artturi Lehkonen, Tomas Tatar, Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Shea Weber, Victor Mete

▼  Phillip Danault, Antti Niemi, Jonathan Drouin, Michael Chaput