Excerpt from 'Habs Hockey Report' of host Amy Johnson commenting on the potential for Kent Hughes to trade Josh Anderson. GAME RECAP | MONTREAL CANADIENS 3 VS FLORIDA PANTHERS 4 | FINAL/SO Montreal Canadiens vs Florida Panthers [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MjA0NzEyNDEzMjM1MjU4Njk5/canadiens.png] Montreal Canadiens vs Florida Panthers CANADIENS LINEUP Forwards 22 Cole Caufield - 14 Nick Suzuki - 20 Juraj Slafkovsky 89 Joshua Roy - 15 Alex Newhook - 40 Joel Armia 11 Brendan Gallagher - 71 Jake Evans - 17 Josh Anderson 70 Tanner Pearson - 36 Colin White - 56 Jesse Ylonen Defensemen 8 Mike Matheson - 21 Kaiden Guhle 72 Arber Xhekaj - 58 David Savard 54 Jordan Harris - 26 Johnathan Kovacevic Goaltenders Starter: 35 Sam Montembeault Alternate: 30 Cayden Primeau Out of the lineup Scratches: Michael Pezzetta, Jake Allen Injuries: Carey Price (knee), Chris Wideman (back), Kirby Dach (knee), Christian Dvorak (upper body), Rafael Harvey-Pinard (lower body), Jayden Struble (lower body) GAME REPORT Given the relative positions in the standings of the two clubs, this was a much more entertaining contest than many expected. Coming into the game, the Canadiens had lost six consecutive games to Florida and had dropped has nine of their last 10 games against the Panthers. The first period was rather evenly played. Shots on goal were 11 a side and each team generated three high-danger scoring chances. The Panthers opened the scoring with Aleksander Barkov firing a shot under the glove of Sam Montembeault, a goal that the Canadiens goaltender would like to have back. The Florida lead was short-lived as 83 seconds later Arber Xhekaj made a long lead pass to spring Nick Suzuki who went in alone and beat Anthony Stolarz. The second period was dominated by the Panthers. Florida spent lengthy periods of time in the Montreal zone. With David Savard in the box for his second penalty of the game, Sam Reinhart scored on the power play, his 40th goal of the season. Somehow the Canadiens salvaged the period as Suzuki won a faceoff back to Juraj Slafkovsky who tied the game with 0.7 seconds left in the middle frame. Slafkovsky ended a four-game point drought. Three minutes into the third period, the Canadiens took their first lead of the game. Alex Newhook scored a power play goal on a feed from Cole Caufield. The Panthers tied the game with just under seven minutes left while the Canadiens were on the power play. Reinhart scored his second goal of the game from a bad angle that fooled Montembeault. It was the tenth time this season that Montreal had given up a shorthanded goal, worst in the NHL. Overtime featured scoring chances from each team. In the shootout, two of the three Florida shooters put pucks past Montembeault as the Panthers became the second team in the league with 40 wins on the season. GAME STATISTICS Canadiens (23-28-9) Shots: 21 Face-off %: 57.4 Power play: 0/0 Penalty minutes: 6 Hits: 22 Blocks: 24 Panthers (40-16-4) Shots: 38 Face-off %: 42.6 Power play: 0/3 Penalty minutes: 0 Hits: 16 Blocks: 12 SCORING SUMMARY Canadiens Scorers 1st period: Suzuki (24) 2nd period: Slafkovsky (13) 3rd period: Newhook (9)-PPG OT: -- SO: -- Panthers Scorers 1st period: Barkov (14) 2nd period: Reinhart (40)-PPG 3rd period: Reinhart (41)-SHG OT: -- SO: Lundell - game-deciding goal Goaltenders MTL: Montembeault (OTL) 13-10-5 FLA: Stolarz (W) 11-5-2 CANADIENS PLAYER OF THE GAME Nick Suzuki - Suzuki recorded a goal and two assists with five shots on goal. The captain now has 59 points in 60 games this season. VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akOoKs2M3dM[/embed] POST-GAME QUOTES Martin St. Louis "We played an excellent match. There is not much to dislike other than the result." Arber Xhekaj "We're proving to ourselves that we can hold our own against anyone, anytime. Our standards are very high. It hurts to lose, but you have to remember all the good things we did tonight." UP NEXT The Canadiens continue with their visit to Florida by taking on the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday night. Be sure to bookmark THN.com/Montreal [https://thn.com/montreal] for year-round coverage of the Montreal Canadiens, Laval Rocket, and Habs prospects playing in leagues around the world. Wayne Gretzky Signature Series [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MjAxNzAzMjM2NzQxMTEzNjIw/gretzky-northland.jpg] Wayne Gretzky Signature Series