MTL@FLA: Game recap

SUNRISE - The Canadiens were defeated 5-2 by the Florida Panthers in their New Year's Day game at FLA Live Arena on Saturday.

With Brendan Gallagher out with a lower-body injury and Jake Evans and Alexander Romanov added to the League's COVID-19 protocols, the Habs dressed 11 forwards and five defensemen. Among those 11 forwards was Cam Hillis, who was making his NHL debut against Florida.

The Panthers struck first, with Sam Bennett notching his 10th of the season just 32 seconds after the opening faceoff.
The Habs found their heels in the minutes that followed, and got their reply when Jonathan Drouin redirected Sami Niku's shot from near the faceoff dot to tie things up at 1-1.

Niku and David Savard earned assists on the equalizer.
The teams headed to the room tied after 20 minutes, and were also even in shots at 15 apiece.
In the second, the Canadiens got their first lead of the game midway through the period when Nick Suzuki fed Jesse Ylonen with a cross-ice backhanded pass and then buried the rebound from Ylönen's shot into a gaping net, beating Sergei Bobrovsky for his seventh of the season.

As well as Ylönen, Niku picked up his second helper of the night on the play.
Aleksander Barkov tied things up for the home side on the power play with under five minutes remaining in the middle frame, beating Sam Montembeault with a one-timer from Sam Reinhart.
Reinhart contributed to the Panthers' scoring efforts once again in the period, feeding Frank Vatrano with a precision pass in the crease which Vatrano tapped in to give Florida a 3-2 lead with 2:30 to go in the second.
That's where things stood after 40 minutes, with the Panthers leading 36-21 in shots.
Florida padded its lead early in the third, when Sam Bennett deflected Mackenzie Weegar's point shot just 15 seconds into the period to make it a 4-2 game.
Mason Marchment gave his team a three-goal lead when he opted to shoot on a 2-on-1 with 6:56 left in regulation, sealing the deal for the Cats.
The Canadiens play next on January 12 against the Boston Bruins at TD Garden.