With one fewer game played than Florida, the Penguins face the Nashville Predators tonight.
"We've shown it since the break," Panthers defenseman Brandon Montour said of the team's resilience. "This is a tough league. Everyone can beat everyone. We have all the belief in the world."
While it was Montour depositing a feed from Aleksander Barkov on a 2-on-1 rush at 1:41 of the extra frame that locked in the win for the Panthers in Toronto, it was the man between the pipes that garnered most of the headlines afterwards as Alex Lyon turned in a performance for ages.
Filling in after Sergei Bobrovsky was unable to man the crease due to a non-COVID illness, Lyon went on to stop 38 of 40 shots against the Maple Leafs, including making a game-saving save with his glove on Auston Matthews, the NHL's reigning Hart Trophy winner, in the extra frame.
"He's earned it," Panthers head coach Paul Maurice said of Lyon, who's posted a 4-3-1 record over his eight appearances with Florida this season. "He worked hard. He's put the effort in to be given the opportunity to be good. He was the key guy, first star of the night."
Following the win, Maurice said that Bobrovsky had already traveled to Montreal and hadn't been ruled out as a potential starter against the Canadiens. With no skate this morning, he will likely announce a starter during his pre-game media availability around roughly 4:45 p.m. ET.
By assisting on Sam Reinhart's late game-tying goal and then going on to score the game-winning goal, Montour made history against the Maple Leafs. Increasing his career-high point total to 63, he secured the highest-scoring season ever by a defenseman in franchise history.
Breaking out in a big way on the blue line in 2022-23, the 28-year-old currently leads Florida's defensemen in goals (14), assists (49), points (63) and average ice time per game (24:11).
"He doesn't play on mistakes," Maurice said of Montour. "He just comes out to win the game. If he has something bad happen in his game, it's not going to affect his next shift. Not because he doesn't care or he doesn't have a conscience, but just because he just wants to win."
Despite sitting in eighth place in the Atlantic Division at 30-39-6, the Canadiens have really been playing some inspired hockey as of late. Going 3-2-0 over their last five games, they picked up wins over the Tampa Bay Lightning, Columbus Blue Jackets and the Buffalo Sabres.
Since March 14, Montreal ranks sixth in the NHL in goals scored with 32 over eight games.
Nick Suzuki leads the Canadiens in scoring with 61 points (23 goals, 38 assists), while Kirby Dach is second with 38 points (14 goals, 24 assists). Always the No. 1 player to keep an eye on in this matchup, Suzuki has posted nine points (three goals, nine assists) in 10 career games against Florida.
Sam Montembeault will reportedly start in net for Montreal in this matchup after turning aside 21 of 23 shots in an 8-2 win over Columbus in his last appearance on March 25. In 34 games this season, the 26-year-old goaltender has gone 15-14-3 on top of a .905 save percentage.
Looking to sweep the season series, the Panthers have won each of their three games against the Canadines this season thus far. In the series, Florida has outscored Montreal 22-9. Up front, Matthew Tkachuk and Barkov have each tallied nine points against the Canadines in 2022-23.
In their last meeting on March 16, the Panthers cruised to a 9-5 win at FLA Live Arena.
"We're still in it," Barkov said. "Keep pushing."
