Montreal scored twice in the final minutes on Tuesday, stealing a victory in overtime and flipping the script on the Comeback Cats.
Over the past several seasons, the Florida Panthers have earned a reputation as the Comeback Cats.
Erasing deficits, whether they are by several goals or extremely late in a game, has become the Panthers’ jam.
Things changed on Tuesday though, as the script was flipped on Florida by the visiting Montreal Canadiens.
The Habs scored twice in the game’s final minutes to extend the contest past the third period, then claimed the bonus point with an overtime power play goal.
For much of the night, the story was about the goaltenders.
Sam Montembeault for Montreal and Daniil Tarasov for Florida each stopped all 17 shots they faced through 40 minutes of hockey, sending the game into the final frame with goose eggs on the scoreboard.
Florida’s star forward Brad Marchand, who was honored before the game for reaching the 1,000 point milestone, picked up the night’s first goal with a power play tally just past the midway point of the third period.
A sharp-angle goal by Sam Reinhart with 4:59 to go felt like it had put the game away, but those feisty Canadiens did not go quietly into the night.
Young star Cole Caufield scored just 32 seconds after Reinhart, infusing life into Montreal’s bench, and then with Montembeault on the bench for an extra attacker, Nick Suzuki tied the game with just 1:22 to go.
An overtime roughing call on Marchand led to the dreaded 4-on-3 power play and Suzuki’s second goal of the game.
Now Florida will go into their two-day break before the Winter Classic with a frustrating defeat to stew on.
On to the Rangers.
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Photo caption: Dec 30, 2025; Sunrise, Florida, USA; Montreal Canadiens center Nick Suzuki (14) celebrates with teammates after scoring against the Florida Panthers during the third period at Amerant Bank Arena. (Sam Navarro-Imagn Images)