Apr 1, 2025; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; Montreal Canadiens forward Josh Anderson (17) celebrates with teammates after scoring a goal against the Florida Panthers during the first period at the Bell Centre. (Eric Bolte-Imagn Images) [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/74cd8b6d-9697-461b-b93c-5a699ea570fc.jpeg] Apr 1, 2025; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; Montreal Canadiens forward Josh Anderson (17) celebrates with teammates after scoring a goal against the Florida Panthers during the first period at the Bell Centre. (Eric Bolte-Imagn Images) It certainly felt like a playoff game on Tuesday night in Montreal. The back end of a home-and-home between the Florida Panthers and Montreal Canadiens had a little bit of everything, but it was the hometown Habs who came out on top. A late goal and an overtime goal gave Montreal a resounding 3-2 victory and Florida more questions to answer. For the second game in a row, it was Montreal striking first. Josh Anderson got positioning in front of the net on Uvis Balinskis and deflected a shot by Kaiden Guhle past a screened Vitek Vanecek to put the Habs up 1-0 just 4:43 into the game. About five minutes later, a faceoff in Montreal’s end led to the Panthers’ first goal of the game. Anton Lundell won the draw back to Niko Mikkola, and his shot tipped off the end of Habs defenseman Jake Evans’ stick and over the goal line. Florida briefly through they’d taken the lead but the goal was quickly waived off. Uvis Balinskis fired a shot that went off the post and directly into A.J. Greer's skates. Greer dragged a skate that pushed the puck into the net, and officials initially said no goal, then changed their call after chatting with each other and went to video review, which ultimately led to a no goal call. It took a little while longer but the Panthers did eventually their first lead of the game, and of the season, over Montreal, and it came on Florida’s first power play of the night. Rookie Mackie Samoskevich sent a wrist shot right along the ice that hit off Guhle on its way underneath Sam Montembeault with just 1:13 left in the middle frame. Florida was able to hold on to the lead until quite literally the game’s final seconds. A failed clear attempt at the Panthers blue line led to the puck being sent toward Florida’s net by Lane Hutson. The bouncing shot went through Sam Reinhart, who went down to his knees in an attempt to block it and instead ended up on the tape of Nick Suzuki with nothing to stop him from scoring with just 8.4 seconds left. It was the first shot on goal for Montreal in over eight minutes. Their next shot would end the game. Never relinquishing possession after the overtime faceoff, it was Suzuki scoring again, this time on a wraparound goal. This one is going to sting. On to Toronto. QUICK THOUGHTS Lundell’s primary assist on Mikkola’s goal was his first helper since Feb. 27 against Edmonton. Seth Jones has points in four of his past six games after assisting on Samoskevich’s power play goal. It was the first tally for Mackie in seven games, his longest stretch without a goal since the end of January. The goal was also the fifth game-winner for Samoskevich this season. LATEST STORIES FROM THE HOCKEY NEWS - FLORIDA Fireworks possible in rematch between Panthers and Canadiens that comes with major playoff implications [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/game-day/fireworks-possible-in-rematch-between-panthers-and-canadiens-that-comes-with-major-playoff-implications] Matthew Tkachuk resumes skating, Panthers still targeting opening round of playoffs for return [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/latest-news/matthew-tkachuk-resumes-skating-panthers-still-targeting-opening-round-of-playoffs-for-return] NHL fines Panthers defenseman Niko Mikkola for final-second slapshot toward Montreal players [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/latest-news/nhl-fines-panthers-defenseman-niko-mikkola-for-final-second-slapshot-toward-montreal-players] Three takeaways: Some good, some bad in frustrating loss to Montreal [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/latest-news/three-takeaways-some-good-some-bad-in-frustrating-loss-to-montreal] Panthers Captain Sasha Barkov skates in 800th NHL game [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/players/panthers-captain-sasha-barkov-skates-in-800th-nhl-game]
