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Canadiens collapse in shootout

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Canadiens collapse in shootout
Credit: Capture d'écran / Screenshot
On Thursday evening, the Montreal Canadiens played their 60th game of the regular season.

On the menu: Matthew Tkachuk and the Florida Panthers. And let’s not forget Aleksander Barkov, who has 55 points in 53 games this season.

Paul Maurice mentioned today that he sees Barkov in Nick Suzuki’s game.

Martin St-Louis’ team was in 7th place in the Atlantic Division before tonight’s games.

The Ottawa Senators are the only team behind the Tricolore, with two points less in the standings, but two games in hand (soon to be three, as they don’t play tonight).

On this Thursday evening, the Habs take on the Florida Panthers, who are having an excellent season. Prior to tonight’s game, they had 82 points in the standings, tied for second overall.

Interestingly, Jesse Ylönen and Kaiden Guhle were playing the 100th game of their young careers.

Here’s the formaton presented by the Habs:

The first period was hotly contested, with 11 shots on goal for each side.

The first goal of the game was scored by none other than Aleksander Barkov, who netted his 14th of the season. Sam Reinhart and Carter Verhaeghe assisted on the goal.

Ironically, the goal following Barkov’s was scored by Nick Suzuki. Let’s just say that Paul Maurice doesn’t seem to have made a mistake with his comparison between the two first-trio centers.

Here’s Nick Suzuki’s 24th goal of the season. Arber Xhekaj and David Savard each picked up an assist on the goal.

The score after 20 minutes of play was 1-1.

The second period of the game was also a good one, with good scoring opportunities on both sides.

However, we had to wait 14 minutes before seeing another goal in the game.

Sam Reinhart scored his 40th goal of the season (!), continuing his dream season. He now has 70 points with two in the game so far.

Tkachuk and Barkov picked up an assist.

With almost everyone up from their seats or couches with about three seconds left, Juraj Slafkovsky tied the game with one second left in the period. The captain won his face-off duel by sending the puck to Slafkovsky, who unleashed his shot without hesitation.

It was the young Slovak’s 13th goal of the season.

It was 2-2 after 40 minutes of play.

Suzuki is having an excellent season, having scored 56 points in 59 games this season prior to this match.

After picking up two points on his club’s first two goals, the captain picked up another point with an assist on Alex Newhook’s goal.

Cole Caufield also picked up an assist on this power-play goal.

A few minutes later, one of the linesmen seems to have saved a life: that of Evan Rodrigues, who was trapped between the boards and the colossus Arber Xhekaj.

I think he prayed really hard not to suffocate between Xhekaj and the tape.

With just under seven minutes to go in the final twenty minutes, the Panthers unfortunately tied the game.

Sam Reinhart, with his 41st goal of the season, continues to dominate this campaign.

I must say, I’m very happy to have him in my fantasy pool this year.

After three periods, the score is tied 3-3. Heading into overtime :

After a few good chances on both sides, it’s finally a shootout to decide the winner.

Here are the results:

Jesse Ylönen : X

Sam Reinhart: X

Nick Suzuki : X

Aleksander Barkov: BUT

Cole Caufield : GOAL

Anton Lundell : GOAL

Final score: 4-3 Florida Panthers

Despite the loss, the Habs definitely played one of their best of the season against the mighty Panthers.

The Tricolore’s next game is against the Lightning in Tampa Bay on Saturday night.


Extension

– Personally, I thought Cole Caufield was much more dynamic in this game, unlike in previous ones. He picked up an assist on Newhook’s power-play goal, but he also created some good scoring chances and was very involved in his overall game.

– It was Samuel Montembeault’s return to Florida and he was solid. Without him, the result would probably have been a varlope.

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