RECAP: Panthers 4, Canadiens 1

SUNRISE, Fla. – Eetu Luostarinen scored a pair of power-plays goals to help the Florida Panthers wave goodbye to 2023 with a 4-1 win over the Montreal Canadiens at Amerant Bank Arena on Saturday.

Improving to 22-12-2, the Panthers have won each of their last four games.

“It feels good to help the team to win,” said Luostarinen, who finished one power-play goal shy of matching the single-game franchise record. “It’s always nice to score goals.”

Playing stalwart defense despite likely having some tired legs on the second half of a back-to-back, the Panthers allowed just nine scoring chances at 5-on-5 in the win.

“I didn’t think any of it was easy today,” Florida head coach Paul Maurice said. “We’ve had a tendency to judge our game on how we move the puck. Some nights you get in a game, especially if you spent a lot [of energy] the night before, where no puck movement is easy. If the other team is grinding you a little bit, and I think they were trying to do that, it makes everything difficult. We didn’t try to open the game up and we didn’t try to break the game.”

The first period came and went without much happening as the two teams combined for just nine shots on goal, with Montreal leading 5-4. That being said, an early fight for Will Lockwood against Canadiens forward Michael Pezzetta drew loud cheers from the crowd.

In the second period, those cheers went up a notch when Luostarinen tipped up a shot from Evan Rodrigues and then whacked the floating puck past Canadiens goaltender Jake Allen on the power play to give the Panthers a 1-0 advantage at 4:05.

On a power play of their own soon after, the Canadines quickly clawed their way back to even when Cole Caufield collected a pass from Nick Suzuki and roofed a backhand shot over Anthony Stolarz’s blocker from the right side of the net to make it 1-1 at 7:01.

Entering tonight’s tilt, Florida hadn’t given up a power-play goal in six straight games.

Later in the period, the Panthers appeared to regain the lead when Carter Verhaeghe finished off a tic-tac-toe play by firing a shot past Allen from the left circle. But the goal came off the board when the Canadiens successfully challenged for offside.

Not giving Montreal much to work with, Florida surrendered just three shots on goal in the second period, matching the fewest shots in a period they’ve allowed this season.

Not seeing much early on, Stolarz was tested right away in the third period.

Just nine seconds after the puck dropped in the final frame, the veteran backup dug in his skates and came up with a clutch stop on a breakaway attempt from Josh Anderson.

At even strength, Stolarz, who's been steady between the pipes all season, stopped all 17 shots he faced.

“I kind of saw him walking across the blue line there, so you kind of anticipate they might try the stretch pass,” Stolarz said of his crucial stop on Anderson. “I just kind of read it well. He pulled it to his forehand and I just tried to seal up the net.”

Netting his second goal of the night and earning his first multi-goal game of the season, Luostarinen stuck again of the power play when he walked the puck along the goal line before lifting a backhand shot into the top of the cage to put the Panthers up 2-1 at 7:34.

Luostarinen’s five goals in December are the third-most on the Panthers.

“A big night for him, and a big night for the power play.” Panthers forward Sam Bennett said. “The second unit got a couple. That’s great to see. He works so hard and it’s great to see him get rewarded tonight.”

Putting the game out of reach, Bennett shut down any hope of a would-be comeback for the Canadiens when he tipped a shot from Oliver Ekman-Larsson, who registered two assists in the win, past Allen’s glove to make it 3-1 at 15:26.

With 2:47 left on the clock, Verhaeghe added an empty-net goal to make it 4-1.

“I think we’ve all just bought in to playing the right way and doing whatever it takes to win,” Bennett said. “The third period, it’s important to play the right way and then once you get the lead just shut it down.”

THEY SAID IT

“We did a good job. We kept them outside and didn’t give too much. Stoli handled the rest of it.” – Eetu Luostarinen

“Guys are doing a great job of boxing guys out, letting Bob and I see the first shot, and then it’s just kind of up to us to control it. The wingers are coming back. I think early on, Carter and E-Rod both had great backchecks where they lifted a guy’s stick in a prime-scoring area. It’s just about all five guys buying into playing hard in the D-zone.” – Anthony Stolarz

“Coming off a back-to-back, I think our defensive structure the whole game was really good. Stoli played great, but we did a really good job of keeping it simple and playing on the defensive side of the puck.” – Sam Bennett

CATS STATS

- Carter Verhaeghe has scored in three of his last four games.

- Matthew Tkachuk has dished out five assists in his last four games.

- Oliver Ekman-Larsson recorded his fourth multi-point game of the season.

- Sam Bennett went 7-for-11 (63.6%) in the faceoff circle.

- The Panthers surrendered just five shot attempts at 5-on-5 in the second period.

- Florida controlled 73.08% of shot attempts at 5-on-5 with Kevin Stenlund on the ice.

WHAT’S NEXT?

The Panthers will start 2024 on the road.

After ringing in the New Year, they’ll kick off a four-game road trip with a matchup against the Arizona Coyotes at Mullett Arena on Tuesday at 9 p.m. ET.

Following that game, they’ll visit Vegas, Colorado and St. Louis.