Panthers' eight-game point streak ends with loss to Canucks

VANCOUVER -- The Florida Panthers' eight-game point streak ended when they allowed five goals in the first period in a 7-2 loss against the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena on Monday.

Sam Montembeault was pulled after giving up three goals on nine shots in the first 6:18. Brian Boyle and Mike Hoffman scored for Florida (5-3-4), which was 4-0-4 in its previous eight games. The Panthers are 1-1-1 on a four-game road trip.
"I don't think we were ready to play," Florida coach Joel Quenneville said. "They were the more desperate team by a wide margin, and right off the bat. Tough to catch up from 3-0 from the drop of the puck."
WATCH: [All Panthers vs. Canucks highlights]
Montembeault returned at the start of the second period and finished with 25 saves. Sergei Bobrovsky, who made 24 saves in a 6-2 win against the Edmonton Oilers on Sunday, allowed two goals on six shots.
"We went completely from the best game of the season to probably the worst," Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov said. "It was 2-0, 3-0 like before we could even start playing and it's tough to come back in this league."
J.T. Miller scored two goals, and Elias Pettersson and Alexander Edler each had three assists for Vancouver (7-3-1), which is 7-1-1 in its past nine games.
All four forward lines scored early in the first period for the Canucks, who have scored five or more goals in three straight games for the first time since Dec. 1-6, 2011.
"If you want to build a playoff team, go deep in the playoffs, you're going to have to have a bunch of guys throughout the lines that can score, and you're seeing that," said Vancouver goalie Thatcher Demko, who made 29 saves. "That's huge for us to have some depth with our scoring."

Brandon Sutter scored on the first shot, a one-timer in the slot off the rush at 1:14, and Tim Schaller made it 2-0 at 4:25 after Montembeault turned the puck over behind the net. Jake Virtanen scored for a third straight game to make it 3-0 at 6:18.
"Secondary scoring is a big part of winning hockey games," Miller said. "It's part of the reason we're getting so many goals every night. Every line is on the same page right now. We're trying to buy into this process that we've talked about as a team, and the results are showing."
Boyle scored from the right face-off circle to make it 3-1 at 8:09, but Miller scored his 100th NHL goal on a deflected shot over Bobrovsky's glove to give the Canucks a 4-1 lead at 9:35.
Josh Leivo scored at 19:06 of the first to make it 5-1.
Vancouver also scored five goals in a period on Oct. 22, when it rallied in the third for a 5-2 win at the Detroit Red Wings.
"It's great to have that all four lines can contribute and play good out there," Pettersson said. "It keeps everyone excited."
Hoffman scored on a one-timer for a power-play goal at 12:58 of the second period to make it 5-2, but Miller redirected Edler's point shot at 19:31 to give the Canucks a 6-2 lead.

Brock Boeser, who was the only Vancouver forward without a point on any of the first four goals, scored at 13:20 of the third period for the 7-2 final.
"They executed their game plan better than us," Hoffman said. "They kept it simple and got pucks in deep and a really strong forecheck and just made it tough on us all around and off of that, they created chances and were able to put a few in our net."

They said it

"We had some good stretches, some really good third periods. But the for most part, [we're] finding a way to get points in tough buildings on the road [against] teams off to decent starts. I thought we were heading in the right direction, and then something like this." -- Panthers coach Joel Quenneville
"Honestly, you're so wrapped up in the game that you're not really paying attention. The only way I knew was that my parents reminded me. They've been putting pressure on me for about a week now, so I told them to stop texting me. It's cool; obviously I'm happy to do it. I've had a lot of help from other teammates along the way." -- Canucks forward J.T. Miller on scoring his 100th NHL goal

Need to know

Barkov's three-game point streak ended. He had seven assists over that span. … Schaller has four goals in his past three games, one more than he scored in 47 games last season. … Canucks forward Loui Eriksson had one assist in his second game of the season after being scratched the previous nine. He replaced Tyler Motte, who was injured blocking a shot Friday against the Washington Capitals.

What's next

Panthers: At the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday (10 p.m. ET; ESPN+, ALT, FS-F, NHL.TV)
Canucks: At the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday (10:30 p.m. ET; ESPN+, SN360, SN1, FS-W, NHL.TV)