CANADIENS SNAP LOSING SKID
Offensive explosion powers 5-1 win
The bottom line: The Canadiens’ moribund offence came to life as Montreal defeated the Florida Panthers 5-1 on Tuesday night at the Bell Centre.
The victory ended a seven-game winless streak for the Canadiens who improved to 2-6-1 on the season.
A power-ful explosion: The power play provided the spark as the Canadiens scored three goals in a 1:35 span to grab a 3-1 lead.
Alex Galchenyuk started the rally when he scored a power-play goal at 16:44. Galchenyuk capitalized when Florida goaltender James Reimer gave up a rebound on a shot by Brendan Gallagher.
Shea Weber scored a power-play goal on a shot from the top of the left faceoff circle at 18:02.
And a strong forecheck forced a turnover in the Florida zone and Gallagher scored his team-leading third goal at 18:19.
Aaron Ekblad went to the ice to block the shot, but Gallagher stepped around him and beat Reimer.
After a shaky start, the Canadiens went 2-for-4 on the power play with nine shots on goal, while Florida went 0-for-2, registering just one shot with the man advantage.
Insurance policy: Weber scored his second goal of the night — and third of the season — when he crossed the blue-line and unloaded a blast at 9:11 of the third period.
Captain Max Pacioretty added to the fun with his second of the season at 11:06.
Reimer stopped Phillip Danault on a wraparound attempt, but Pacioretty was stationed in front to bury the rebound.
Good start, bad start: Carey Price came up with big saves on Aleksander Barkov in the first five minutes of the game and, for the first time this season, the Canadiens didn’t give up a goal in the first period. But the Panthers needed only 20 seconds in the second period to take a 1-0 lead on a goal by Keith Yandle. He took a drop pass from Jonathan Huberdeau and scored on a shot from the high slot.
Coming up: The Canadiens have home games against the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday (7:30 p.m., TSN2, RDS, TSN-690) and the New York Rangers Saturday.