FLA@MTL: What you need to know

MONTREAL – The Canadiens are back home and play host to the Florida Panthers on Thursday night at the Bell Centre for Youppi!’s Mascot Party.

Here’s what you need to know heading into the game:

1. The Canadiens closed out their five-game span away from Montreal with a win, downing the Blue Jackets 4-2 in Columbus on Wednesday. The Jackets took the lead twice in the second period, but Montreal responded both times with goals from Alex Newhook and Cole Caufield. That set the stage for Joel Armia to net the game-winner late in the third, followed by an empty-netter from Gustav Lindström in the final minute. Sam Montembeault made 26 saves in the win.

Montreal’s performance helped Armia and Caufield pick up first- and second-star honors in the game. Recalled from the Laval Rocket on November 24, Armia made sure to make a splash in his return to the Canadiens lineup.

2. It’ll be a festive night at the Bell Centre for Youppi!’s fourth annual Mascot Party, with several of our big orange furball’s friends will be in the building for the occasion: Stanley C. Panther (Florida Panthers), Hunter (Edmonton Oilers), Tommy Hawk (Chicago Blackhawks), Buoy (Seattle Kraken), and Sourdough Sam (San Francisco 49ers). If it's anything like year's Mascot Party, it's going to be a blast - fur real!

Don’t miss your chance to meet the mascots!

3. The Canadian road trip continues for the Panthers, who arrive in Montreal to play their third game in the eastern part of the country on Thursday night. Currently sitting in second place in the Atlantic Division with a 13-7-2 record, the Panthers started the voyage with a convincing win in Ottawa on Monday before falling to Toronto the following night. In the latter game, a shootout was needed to determine the winner and Evan Rodrigues thought he had sealed the deal for his team in the fifth round before his goal on Joseph Woll was called back. The sixth round went to the Maple Leafs. The Panthers will be looking to close out their northern road swing on a high.

Two Panthers players are currently producing at more than one point per game: Sam Reinhart, who leads the team with 27 points (15G, 12A), and Aleksander Barkov, who isn’t far behind with 20 points (6G, 14A). The team’s assists leader is Matthew Tkachuk with 15.

4. Martin St-Louis' troops will return to the Bell Centre ice for the first time since November 16. Since then, the Club picked up six of 10 points over a five-game stretch away from home which finished on a high note on Wednesday night in Columbus. Thursday’s game will be the second of a back-to-back, meaning the Canadiens will not hold a morning skate. For any lineup changes, we’ll have to wait until Martin St-Louis' pregame press conference which will be streamed on the Habs’ official X, Facebook, and YouTube channels.

5. Game time is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. ET. You can watch all the action on TSN2 and RDS, or listen in on TSN 690 or 98,5 fm on the radio. For tickets, click here.