RECAP: Panthers ride record-setting first period to win over Canadiens

SUNRISE, Fla. --Setting social media ablaze and turning heads around the NHL, the Florida Panthers erupted for seven goals in the first period of an eventual 9-5 win over the Montreal Canadiens at FLA Live Arena on Thursday.
Improving to 34-27-7, the Panthers extended their point streak to five games and now sit just three points behind both the Pittsburgh Penguins and New York Islanders for the two wild-card spots in the Eastern Conference. They also have two crucial games in hand on the Islanders.

"If you came 30 minutes late, you're probably regretting it," said Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk, who racked up a team-leading four points (one goal, three assists). "Hopefully nobody got stuck in traffic. Definitely some things to clean up, but a win's a win at this time of year."
Jumpstarting a first period full of goals, Mike Matheson, a first-round pick of the Panthers all the way back in 2012, opened the scoring for the Canadiens when he ripped a shot past Sergei Bobrovsky from the left circle to make it 1-0 just 16 seconds after the puck had been dropped.
A little over two minutes later, Colin White and Carter Verhaeghe lit the lamp at 2:43 and 3:17, respectively, to put the Panthers on top 2-1. Anthony Richard tied the game 2-2 at 5:20, but just 44 seconds after that Gustav Forsling beat Sam Montembeault to put Florida up 3-2 at 6:04.
Following that goal, Jake Allen replaced Montembeault in Montreal's net.
"I think that Whitey's goal to make it 1-1 was a huge goal just for momentum purposes," Tkachuk said. "When a team scores in the first minute it's never a good thing. Even though they scored that one, we still gave up opportunities that didn't turn into anything, but could've. That was a big goal by Whitey to get us feeling good about ourselves after a few days off."
Michael Pezzetta pulled the Canadiens even once again when he scored off a flukey deflection to make it 3-3 at 8:18, but that would be the last time Montreal would be tied. At 9:09, Aaron Ekblad regained the lead for the Panthers when he scored to make it 4-3.

The seven combined goals scored in the first 10 minutes matched an NHL record.
Not slowing down, the Panthers made it 5-3 when Ryan Lomberg buried his career-high 10th goal of the season at 10:33. Celebrating his 600th game in the NHL, Sam Reinhart followed suit with a goal of his own at 12:22 to increase the lead to 6-3. At 13:18, Carter Verhaeghe made it 7-3.
Setting a new franchise record for goals in a period, the Panthers' seven goals are also the second-most ever scored by an NHL team in the first period of a regular-season game, trailing only the eight scored by Montreal more than 100 years ago back on March 8, 1922.
"I've never seen anything like that in 25 years, that many goals" Panthers head coach Paul Maurice said. "There were more goals than chances to score, and that's a rarity. All I can say is that it completely affected the rest of the game for both teams."
While the second period didn't pack quite the same punch as the first, the Panthers kept piling it on against the Canadiens. After Rafael Harvey-Pinard scored to cut Montreal's deficit to 7-4 at 2:26, Ekblad picked up his second goal when he jammed in a rebound on the power play to make it 8-4 at 5:31.
Earning his fourth point of the game, Tkachuk extended Florida's lopsided advantage to 9-4 when he beat Allen with a laser from the right circle at 7:33. In his last three games alone, Tkachuk has logged 10 points to increase his team-high total to 91 (31 goals, 60 assists).
Coming back into the game, Montembeault replaced Allen after Tkachuk's goal.
With the goals finally drying up, Rem Pitlick scored the lone goal for either team in the third period, lighting the lamp at 5:47 to trim Montreal's deficit down to 9-5. Settling down after a few unlucky bounces in the first period, Bobrovsky stopped 22 of 24 shots over the final 40 minutes for the Panthers.
As the playoff race heats up, the Panthers will take two points any way they can get them.
"We just want to keep it going," Verhaeghe said. "We didn't like our game in the third [period] that much. It was a little tough to play there. We liked our game in the first period and we want to keep on going. We have some areas to clean up, but we want to keep going."

CATS QUOTES

"He's moving his feet. He's making the right plays. He's not trying to create offense when it's not there. He's letting the game come to him. That's usually when a guy's on a roll and in a rhythm, when he's not forcing anything."- Paul Maurice on Matthew Tkachuk
"When you're playing with good players and the team scores nine goals, it helps everybody out there. It's nothing about my game that's really changed. Just go in there with the same mindset. The same preparation goes into every game." - Matthew Tkachuk on his four-point night

CATS NOTES

• Matthew Tkachuk is the second active U.S.-born player to record consecutive 90-point seasons, joining Winnipeg's Blake Wheeler (2017-18, 2018-19).
  - Matthew Tkachuk is the second player in Panthers history to record three straight games with at least three points. The other was Hall of Famer Pavel Bure, who accomplished the feat from Dec. 17-20, 1999.
  - For just the fifth time in NHL history, nine different players scored during the first period.
  - The Panthers are the first team to score at least seven goals in the first period since the Hartford Whalers on Oct. 19, 1985. Oddly enough, that game was also against Montreal.

WHAT'S NEXT?

The Panthers (34-27-7) will close the book on their seven-game homestand when they host the New Jersey Devils (44-17-6) at FLA Live Arena on Saturday at 6 p.m. ET.
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