The result was not surprising on Saturday afternoon at the FLA Live Arena, but the Canadian sold his skin dearly despite diminished strength.
Sam Bennett scored two goals, Jonathan Huberdeau had three assists and the Florida Panthers defeated the Montreal team 5-2.
Ahead of the meeting, the Canadiens indicated that defenseman Alexander Romanov and forward Jake Evans must go through the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol. Brendan Gallagher was also absent with a lower body injury Thursday in the 4-0 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes.
Even though Cam Hillis became the first former member of the Trois-Rivières Lions to play in the NHL, the Canadian started the game with 11 forwards and five defensemen in his lineup. To make matters worse, he lost the services of the Cédric Paquette center during the match.
Paquette was stunned by a blow to the head from Bennett early in the first period. He returned to play in the second period, but did not return to the bench after the second intermission.
Under the circumstances, the Canadian offered great opposition to the Panthers. However, the cream did come back up and the Canadian was unable to cause any surprise.
Jonathan Drouin and Nick Suzuki hit the target for the Canadiens (7-23-4), who amassed just one point during his three-game trip in the Southeastern United States (0-2-1) . Sami Niku had two assists and Samuel Montembeault repelled 43 shots.
Aleksander Barkov, Frank Vatrano and Mason Marchment were the Panthers’ other scorers (21-7-4). Sam Reinhart had two assists and Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 29 shots.
The Canadian is now on hiatus until Jan. 12, when he visits the Boston Bruins. Five Habs home games have been postponed since they would have been presented in front of empty bleachers due to the measures imposed by Quebec’s public health to fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
Inevitable outcome
The game started badly for the Canadian, as the Panthers opened the scoring after 32 seconds of play. Bennett took advantage of a nice pass from Anthony Duclair to beat Montembeault.
The Canadian did not give up and got to work. Drouin tied it at 3:48, deflecting a shot from Niku into the goal.
Montembeault stood out for the first time by going from two difficult saves in quick succession in front of Owen Tippett. The Habs goaltender was also alert later in the period, when Niku lost control of the disc in net and Bennett was able to shoot point blank.
At the other end of the ice, Michael Pezzetta got the best chance for the Habs before the end of the first twenty. Hillis joined him behind Panthers defenders and Pezzetta attempted to surprise Bobrovsky by passing his stick between his legs to shoot. The Panthers goaltender made the save, however.
The Canadian received four minor penalties in the second period, but still took the lead at 9:29, when the teams played four against four. Suzuki capitalized on a comeback and was able to shoot into an open net.
The Panthers finally took advantage of the Habs’ indiscipline, creating a 2-2 power-play tie at 3:02 pm Barkov hit the nail on the head after a nice lift pass from Reinhart.
Reinhart then set the table for Vatrano at 5:30 pm and the Panthers were able to retreat to the locker room with a 3-2 lead.
The Panthers broke the back of the Canadiens by widening the gap after just 15 seconds of play in the third period. Bennett deflected a long shot from Mackenzie Weegar.
Marchment turned the iron in the wound, scoring in a two-on-one attack with 6.56 to go on the clock.