Canadiens overmatched in 5-0 loss to Panthers
Tenth time this season team has failed to score a goal
SUNRISE, FLA. Montreal native Roberto Luongo made 40 saves to lead the Florida Panthers to a 5-0 win over the Canadiens Thursday at the BB&T Center. It was Luongo’s second shutout of the season and 75th of his career. It was the 10th time the Canadiens have been shut out this season — a team record. Huberdeau powers up: The Panthers scored the only goal in the first period when St-Jérôme native Jonathan Huberdeau scored a power-play goal at 16:16. The Canadiens had the first power play of the game, but it was cut short when Montreal was caught with too many men. That gave Florida the advantage for 1:20 and Huberdeau connected from the slot after a backhand pass from Vincent Trochek. It was Huberdeau’s 21st goal. The Canadiens thought a backhander from Nicolas Deslauriers was a goal at 9:28, but replays didn’t offer conclusive evidence the puck crossed the goal-line. Quick turnaround: The Panthers took a 2-0 lead at 1:41 of the second period after Luongo stopped Jonathan Drouin on a 2-on-1 break and then saved the rebound attempt by Alex Galchenyuk. The Panthers came back on the same shift and Nick Bjugstad scored his 15th goal, going in alone and scoring on a backhander after Aleksander Barkov threaded a pass through two defenders. Florida went ahead 3-0 at 2:44 when Derek MacKenzie cut off Byron Froese’s attempt to rim the puck behind the net and he set up Micheal Haley in the slot. Challenge saves shutout: Evgenii Dadonov gave the Panthers a 4-0 lead at 1:23 of the third. Paul Byron beat Luongo at 3:30, but Florida coach Bob Boughner challenged the call and the replay showed Jacob de la Rose guilty of interfering with Luongo before the puck went in. Trochek completed the rout with a short-handed goal at 14:56. Danault has neck pain: The Canadiens, already short-handed up the middle, didn’t have centre Phillip Danault in the lineup. He woke up Tuesday with a stiff neck and a headache and, given his recent concussion problems, the Canadiens decided not to dress him. Charles Hudon missed his fourth consecutive game with a hand injury. Good seats available: When the Canadiens were here Dec. 30, the contest produced one of only three sold-out games this season at the BB&T Center with 18,013 paying customers. But this game was far from a sellout, with entire rows of empty seats in the lower bowl and upper deck, which remains closed for most games. The Panthers, who also had sellouts for games against the Detroit Red Wings and Pittsburgh Penguins, rank 28th in the NHL in attendance with an average of 13,730 fans a game.
End of the road coming: The Canadiens are in Tampa to play the Lightning in an afternoon game Saturday (1 p.m., TSN2, RDS, TSN690 Radio) and they wrap up their six-game road trip with a visit to Columbus on Monday. They return to the Bell Centre on Tuesday to face the Dallas Stars.