Paul Maurice had paid a $25,000 bill earlier that day. He was fined for his refereeing comments after a 5-4 overtime loss to the Maple Leafs on Tuesday in Toronto.
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Maurice, head coach of the Florida Panthers, didn’t need to pull out his checkbook again. But there are likely times in this game where Martin St-Louis intended to emulate his counterpart.
In a tumultuous game, the Canadian lost 6 to 2 against the Panthers yesterday at the Bell Centre.
The Canadian did not lose this meeting due to the work of Ghislain Hébert and Jake Brenk. It would be too easy to blame the striped men. The Panthers, however, hit the target four times on the power play.
Control
Hébert and Brenk spent the evening whistling penalties, but they never succeeded in their main mission, that of maintaining control.
“As captain, I often spoke to the referees, there were discussions,” said Nick Suzuki. I sometimes tried to understand what they were thinking. But we got stupid punishments. There are also punishments that were questionable. It is sometimes unfortunate. »
“When you give up four shorthanded goals, you can’t expect to win the game,” continued Suzuki. It’s still our fault. »
There were a total of 90 penalty minutes in this game. The CH won in this department with 53 minutes, compared to 37 for the visitors.
Dispute lost
The Canadian lost an important bet in the second period. St. Louis challenged the Panthers’ first goal, that of Sam Reinhart. Number 13 jumped on a return shot from Aleksander Barkov to thwart Samuel Montembeault.
On this play, Matthew Tkachuk prevented Montembeault from moving freely to his right. On video replay, the referees finally kept their initial decision on the ice, which was to award the goal. According to the explanations offered by the NHL, there was indeed contact between Tkachuk and the goalkeeper, but this would not have prevented the puck from entering the net.
“I thought the decision could go both ways,” Suzuki said. Monty tried to dive to get back in the game, but Tkachuk was there. We had to forget about this game.
The Canadian allowed another goal to the Panthers during this penalty awarded for a lost challenge.
For the fourth time this season, CH have conceded three or more goals to their shorthanded rivals. But it was the first time since March 1, 2022 that the Canadian gave four goals in the same meeting in numerical inferiority. The Jets won 8-4 that night in Winnipeg.
Primeau in action
Montembeault allowed five goals, all five in the second period, on 33 shots. Number 35 gave way to Cayden Primeau for the start of the third period. It was the first time this season that St. Louis released the hook with its starting goaltender.
In his first minutes this NHL season, Primeau gave up one goal on six shots.
What we noticed…
THE “BOB” IN THE LOCKER ROOM
Sergei Bobrovsky didn’t stay up late. He didn’t even have time to block a shot. The Panthers’ number one goaltender was injured early in the first period when he made a lateral move to his left. On this play, Josh Anderson hit the post. Bobrovsky stretched after a whistle, but he chose to give up. He most likely suffered a groin injury. Alex Lyon replaced him at 2 min 1 s in the first period.
ERIC STAAL HAS INJURED
In his first game at the Bell Center since the Canadiens’ magical journey in the 2021 playoffs, Eric Staal did not feel the same sensations. The oldest of the Staal brothers took a questionable check from Mike Matheson in the first period. The Panthers said he sustained an upper body injury. In this specific case, it’s a safe bet that it is a concussion. The 38-year-old Staal is back in the NHL after a season where he represented Canada at the Beijing Olympics and played 4 games with the Iowa Wild in the American League.
RIFIFIED
There is not a great rivalry between the Panthers and the CH, even if the two teams find themselves in the Atlantic division for a few years. But there was animosity in this meeting. The Panthers harassed Matheson for his hit against Staal. Matthew Tkachuk avenged his teammate by engaging in a fight with the former Panthers defenseman. Arber Xhekaj also threw down the gloves, winning his duel against Givani Smith. In an end worthy of another era, Michael Pezzetta also offered a little waltz by fighting against Ryan Lomberg.
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Josh Anderson
Anderson scored his 13th goal of the season, but he mostly fired 6 shots on Alex Lyon He had a good game on the right wing with Mike Hoffman and Kirby Dach They spent a lot of time in Panthers territory
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Numerical inferiority
The CH gave up four shorthanded goals in eight occasions There were also times when concentration was not there At the end of the second period, the CH received two penalties in a row for too many players on the ice
First period
No goal
Penalties: Luostarinen (Flo) 2:01, Pitlick (Mon) 8:29, Cousins (Flo) 16:26, Edmundson (Mon) 18:51
Second period
1-Flo: Sam Reinhart (14) (Barkov)AN-6:30
2-Flo: Sam Bennett (11) (Forsling, Lundell)AN-8:27
3-Flo: Matthew Tkachuk (23) (Reinhart, Montour)AN-14:58
4-Flo: Givani Smith (1) (Cousins, Gudas)16:03
5-Flo: Matthew Tkachuk (24) (Reinhart, Barkov)AN-19:17
Penalties: Dach (Mon) 4:34, bench (Mon) (served by Caufield) 6:30, Smith (Flo) 11:37, Anderson (Mon) 13:17, bench (Mon) (served by Ylonen) 16: 55, bench (Mon) (served by Harris) 6:18 p.m., Forsling (Flo) 8:00 p.m., Xhekaj (Mon) 8:00 p.m., Smith (Flo) 8:00 p.m.
Third period
6-Mon: Rem Pitlick (2) (Hoffman, Barron)2:12
7-Mon: Josh Anderson (13) (Pitlick, Ylonen)8:06
8-Flo: Ryan Lomberg (6) (Verhaeghe, Bennett)9:11
Penalties: Savard (Mon) (inc&min) 5:13, Staal (Flo) 5:13, Matheson (Mon) (maj) 5:58, Tkachuk (Flo) (maj) 5:58, Bennett (Flo) 5 :58, Xhekaj (Mon) (maj) 12:46, Smith (Flo) (maj) 12:46, Pezzetta (Mon) (purged by Evgenii Dadonov) (min and maj) 14:09, Lomberg (Flo) (maj ) 14:09
Shoot to the net
Florida 11 – 22 – 6 – 39 Montreal 9 – 7 – 9 – 25
Guardians:
Flo: Sergei Bobrovsky and Alex Lyon (2:01 into the 1st period) (G, 1-0-0) Mon: Samuel Montembeault (P, 9-8-2) and Cayden Primeau (3rd period)
Numerical advantages:
Flo: 4 in 8, Mon: 0 in 4
Referees:
Jake Brenk, Ghislain Hébert
Linesmen:
Matt MacPherson, Scott Cherrey
ASSISTANCE:
21 105