Fireworks possible in rematch between Panthers and Canadiens that comes with major playoff implications

Don't be surprised to see some fireworks on Monday night when the Florida Panthers open their latest road trip in Montreal.

The Panthers and Montreal Canadiens faced off on Sunday afternoon in Sunrise, with the Habs coming away with a 4-2 victory, snapping Florida's seven-game home winning streak.

It was an important victory for the Canadiens, who are clinging to the final Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference.

Entering play Tuesday, Montreal is tied with the New York Rangers, each holding 77 points, but the Habs have played one less game than the Blueshirts and, as such, hold the tiebreaker.

Sunday's game was important for Florida, too, as the loss dropped the Cats down to third in the Atlantic Division.

Florida and Tampa Bay each have 91 points and 73 games played, but the Lightning have two more regulation wins than Florida, which is the next tiebreaker. Toronto is currently three points clear of both Florida and Tampa, though with one more game played.

So yeah, plenty of playoff intrigue and implications on Tuesday night at Bell Centre.

But wait, there’s more!

In literally the final seconds of Montreal’s victory on Sunday, Panthers defenseman Niko Mikkola fired a howitzer of a slapshot down the ice into the Canadiens’ zone, nearly hitting David Savard and incited a ruckus that had several Habs players trying to get at Mikkola.

The NHL’s Department of Player Safety responded quickly, fining Mikkola $5,000, the maximum amount allowable, for unsportsmanlike conduct.

We’ll see if anything happens when Panthers and Canadiens reconvene on the ice in Montreal.

Here are the Panthers projected lines and pairings for Tuesday's clash with the Canadiens:

Carter Verhaeghe – Sasha Barkov – Sam Reinhart

Mackie Samoskevich – Sam Bennett – Brad Marchand

Eetu Luostarinen – Anton Lundell – Jesper Boqvist

A.J. Greer – Nico Sturm – Evan Rodrigues

Gus Forsling – Seth Jones

Niko Mikkola – Nate Schmidt

Tobias Bjornfot – Uvis Balinskis

Scratches: Jonah Gadjovich, Tomas Nosek, Dmitry Kulikov

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