Follow the game between the Canadiens and the Panthers on RDS and the RDS.ca. | Canadians 2 – Panthers 7 (3rd period)
The Montreal Canadiens continue their holiday journey by taking on the Florida Panthers.
Returning to action after a three-game absence, Aleksander Barkov was quick to make his presence felt. The Panthers captain deflected Gustav Forsling’s point shot to put his team ahead after just 2 minutes 37 seconds.
You could say that Barkov got bored of being on the ice with his teammates. During a power play, the Finn surprised Samuel Montembeault with a powerful wrist shot from the left circle.
Quiet until then, the Canadian can impose his rhythm by obtaining a numerical advantage. As CH’s massive attack had just ended, Arber Xhekaj surprised Sergei Bobrovsky with a powerful slap shot from the blue line. The rookie defender has already scored a fifth goal this season.
Barkov doesn’t want to be upstaged on his return. Barkov completes his hat trick 68 seconds later to restore the Panthers’ two-goal lead.
The CH were able to take advantage of a golden chance at the end of the first when Eetu Luostarinen received a double minor penalty for hitting Josh Anderson in the face. Anderson found the best way to get revenge. He jumped on the return of Mike Hoffman to close the gap to just one goal. Xhekaj has picked up an assist on the game.
Despite their 25th rank on the power play, the Panthers have the luxury of counting on several talented players. In a five-man attack in the middle period, Matthew Tkachuk scored his 16th goal of the season to double the Floridians lead.
The Canadian absolutely could not afford to give the first goal in the last third, but Carter Verhaeghe had other ideas. Verhaeghe found the top side on a two-on-one to put the Panthers up three goals.
The massive attack of the Panthers can take advantage of a duel against the CH to revive. After a penalty to Kirby Dach, Tkachuk jumped on a rebound from Barkov to make it 6-2 for the Panthers. Tkachuk took his tally to three points in the game, as Barkov added a fifth.
The Panthers haven’t played since Dec. 23 and are starving. Sam Bennett made a brilliant pass to Luostarinen to allow the Panthers to score a seventh goal. Tkachuk picked up a fourth point on Luostarinen’s ninth;