Hidden Game: Canadiens play Panthers tough, but lose in shootout

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Our crystal ball is in the shop for repairs, and the Canadiens are at least one more season away from making the playoffs. But wouldn’t a post-season series between Montreal and Florida be wonderful?

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Thursday night’s game at the Amerant Bank Arena — the start of the Canadiens’ four-game road trip — was entertaining and had a bit of everything, including great scoring opportunities at both ends. But most of all, it was a chippy affair with lots of stickwork and plenty of scrums after the play was stopped, much of it involving Panthers’ pest Matthew Tkachuk.

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Could you imagine these teams playing every other night, potentially for seven games? Kids, ask your fathers about the great series between the Canadiens and Quebec Nordiques back in the day.

Milestones: Canadiens defenceman Kaiden Guhle, forward Jesse Ylönen and Florida netminder Anthony Stolarz all were playing the 100th regular-season games of their careers.

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Play Pezzetta: With Ylönen dressed, it meant Michael Pezzetta was not. He was a healthy scratch for the fifth consecutive game. Ylönen, by the way, has now gone 38 games without a goal.

Go figure: At Christmas the Panthers, who reached the Stanley Cup final last season, were barely sitting in the second wild-card position. Since then, Florida has a 22-4-2 record. It took the Panthers only 60 games to reach 40 victories and they’re now first overall in the Eastern Conference. Head coach Paul Maurice still would look good behind the Toronto Maple Leafs’ bench, in our humble opinion.

News you need (Part I): Panthers’ captain Aleksander Barkov, who opened the scoring seven minutes into the game, now has 24 goals in 34 games against the Canadiens.

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News you need (Part II): This marked the first time in their last 15 games the Panthers have allowed more than two goals.

News you need (Part III): When Florida’s Kevin Stenlund was assessed a holding minor at 13:01, it marked the Canadiens’ first power-play since last Thursday, at Pittsburgh. That was three games ago.

News you need (Part IV): The Canadiens now have a 5-6-1 record when they play on Feb. 29.

Another slow start: Montreal didn’t register its first shot until 3:44. Nick Suzuki was denied from the slot following an Aaron Ekblad turnover.

Pass of the night: Arber Xhekaj’s stretch pass from deep in his own territory sent Suzuki on a breakaway. The Canadiens’ captain beat Stolarz to his glove hand. And you thought Xhekaj only was good for beating up opponents or delivering 107 mph shots during the team’s skills competition.

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Where would they be without him?: Suzuki’s goal was the 99th of his career and his 11th in February. Only Toronto’s Auston Matthews, with 12 goals, was more productive during the month. Suzuki becomes the first Canadiens player to produce more than 10 goals in a calendar month since Brian Savage scored 11 in October 1995. With his three-point effort against the Panthers, Suzuki now has 24 goals and 59 points in 60 games. Could a 30-goal season be within reach? Don’t bet against him.

Momentum, schmomentum: Suzuki’s goal came 1:23 after Barkov opened the scoring.

Dumb penalty (Part I): As the opening period came to an end, Jake Evans, off a faceoff, took a tripping minor against Niko Mikkola.

Stat of the night: Suzuki had five of the Canadiens’ 11 first-period shots.

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Another slow start: It took 6:31 for the Canadiens to register their first shot of the second period. It came from Brendan Gallagher.

When you play with fire: You usually get burned. After the Canadiens’ third successive minor penalty, Sam Reinhart scored the Panthers’ second goal, at 14:08 of the second period.

Faceoff of the night: Suzuki beat Stenlund, dropping the puck to Juraj Slafkovsky, who scored with .07 remaining in the second period. It was Slafkovsky’s first goal in six games.

News you need (Part V): Reinhart scored a second goal, while the Panthers were shorthanded, at 13:05 of the third period, tying the score. He now has 41 goals this season, including 23 on the power-play and five while shorthanded. Coincidentally, he’s eligible to become an unrestricted free agent this summer. There should be a long queue for his services.

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It must be the tape job: Slafkovsky took two minor penalties against Arizona on Tuesday. He taped his stick differently against Florida and, coincidentally, stayed out of the box.

Dumb penalty (Part II): Mikkola in the offensive zone, early in the third period, took an interference minor on Ylönen. Alex Newhook scored on the ensuing power-play.

News you need (Part VI): The Canadiens now have allowed an NHL-high 10 shorthanded goals.

And the Oscar goes to: Brandon Montour, who convinced the officials Cole Caufield was guilty of tripping in the fifth minute of the third period.

He deserved better: Samuel Montembeault, who once played for Florida, now has an 0-5 record against his former team. With 32 stops, his save percentage was an impressive .914.

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They said it: “Being in a game like this, against a team like that, is good for us,” Caufield told reporters in Sunrise, Fla., following the game. “We’re right there. I think there’s some things we can clean up to kind of finish that off. That’s kind of how hockey works. Last game we didn’t play well and got two points. Tonight we played a pretty good game and don’t come out with two points. We just came up one (goal) too short.”

“We want to show teams that they totally have to respect us,” Xhekaj told reporters in Sunrise, Fla.

hzurkowsky@postmedia.com

twitter.com/HerbZurkowsky1

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