Panthers score 7 in 1st, top Canadiens to gain in East wild card race
Tkachuk has 4 points for Florida, which sets franchise record for most goals in a period
By
Alain Poupart
NHL.com Independent Correspondent
The seven goals in the first period set a franchise record; Florida scored six in the second period against the Boston Bruins on April 5, 2000.
"I have never seen anything like that," Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. "In 25 years, never seen that many goals. There were more goals than chances to score and that is a rarity. All I can say is it affected the game for both teams, and I do not think anything on video is useful to the game of hockey."
Carter Verhaeghe and Aaron Ekblad each scored twice, and Matthew Tkachuk had a goal and three assists for Florida (34-27-7), which also set a season-high for goals in a game and extended its point streak to five games (4-0-1). Sergei Bobrovsky made 25 saves.
The Panthers pulled within three points of the Pittsburgh Penguins and New York Islanders, who are tied for the first wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.
Mike Matheson and Anthony Richard each had a goal and an assist for the Canadiens (27-36-6), who lost for the eighth time in nine games (1-6-2).
"Defensively we, like, forgot everything," Montreal coach Martin St. Louis said. "Offensively, we had three goals after three shots, but you have to know how to defend. I know we know how to defend, but tonight we forgot everything. I don't know if it was a lack of effort. I'd say we weren't very smart on the ice defensively."
Canadiens goalie Sam Montembeault was pulled after allowing three goals on six shots in the first 6:04 and was replaced by Jake Allen, but Montembeault returned in the second period after Allen also was pulled.
Allen gave up six goals on 18 shots. Montembeault finished with 21 saves on 24 shots, including all 18 he faced after returning.
"I can't imagine mentally what he was going through," Montreal forward Rem Pitlick said of Montembeault. "You're kind of off, goals go in, you're off the ice. And then as a goalie, you want to get your touches, I'm sure, and you're cold and you have to be flexible, all those different things.
"So, for him to kind of like bear that mentally and come back and play well and play strong, good for him. And I think that's a good sign of character."
Matheson gave the Canadiens a 1-0 lead just 16 seconds into the game. Colin White and Verhaeghe then scored 34 seconds apart to begin the Florida scoring barrage.
White tied it 1-1 at 2:43 before Verhaeghe gave the Panthers a 2-1 lead at 3:17.
Richard tied it 2-2 at 5:20. After Gustav Forsling's goal gave Florida a 3-2 lead and chased Montembeault, Michael Pezzetta tied it again, 3-3 at 8:18.
Ekblad put the Panthers ahead 4-3 at 9:09 before Ryan Lomberg made it 5-3 at 10:33.
"At 3-3, the game did settle down a little bit," Ekblad said. "I am happy we settled down in the second and third and ended up on the right side of this one."
Sam Reinhart extended it to 6-3 at 12:22 with a sharp-angle shot, and Verhaeghe scored again at 13:18 to make it 7-3.
"If you came 30 minutes late, you missed it," Tkachuk said. "Hope people did not get stuck in traffic. Definitely we have some things to clean up, but a win is a win. We did score a ton of goals, so we did a lot of good things as well."
Rafael Harvey-Pinard cut it to 7-4 at 2:26 of the second period before Ekblad made it 8-4 at 5:31 with a power-play goal.
Tkachuk pushed it to 9-4 at 7:33 with a shot from the right circle, and Allen was replaced by Montembeault.
Pitlick scored on the power play at 5:47 of the third period for the 9-5 final.
NOTES:It was the sixth time in NHL history two teams have combined for seven goals in the first 10 minutes of a game (9:09). The fastest seven goals to start a game is 8:34, set by the Ottawa Senators and Philadelphia Flyers on Feb. 26, 1997. ... The Panthers became the fourth different franchise in NHL history to score seven or more goals in the first period, and the first to do it since Oct. 19, 1985, when the Hartford Whalers did it. The Canadiens (1920, 1922, 1951) and Montreal Maroons (1938) also scored seven goals in the first. ... Florida came within one goal of matching its record for most in a game (10-5 win against the Boston Bruins 10-5 on Nov. 26, 1997). … Tkachuk joined Pavel Bure as the only Florida players with three consecutive games with three or more points. Bure did it from Dec. 17-20, 1999. … Matheson's goal was the second-fastest goal by a Montreal defenseman behind Rod Langway's goal 10 seconds into the game Feb. 2, 1980.
