Montreal’s set play yields victory
It’s always good when things go according to plan.
And that’s what happened at the Bell Centre on Saturday when Max Pacioretty scored a power play goal in overtime to give the Canadiens a 3- 2 victory over the Florida Panthers.
The Canadiens were handed a 4- on- 3 advantage when Vincent Trocheck was sent off for highsticking Lars Eller.
Pacioretty found himself alone in front of Florida goaltender Roberto Luongo and had time to spare after taking a pass from David Desharnais, who was in the corner.
“That’s the set play we talked about before the faceoff,” Pacioretty said. “I think they got a little confused on the faceoff. It went back to ( P. K. Subban) and it was a great pass by Davey as usual.”
His goal was the 36th of the season, but Pacioretty said he wasn’t thinking about the 40- goal mark that was missed by one last season. “If I think about that, my mind is going in the wrong direction,” Pacioretty said.
With the win, the Canadiens are officially in the playoffs and Pacioretty said the game had the feel of a post- season contest with the Panthers desperately needing a win to keep their slim playoff hopes alive. Montreal outshot Florida 24- 23 and the game nearly ground to a halt in the third period when the Panthers had an 8- 5 edge.
“Before the game, we said let’s treat it like the first round of the playoffs and I really like that mentality,” Pacioretty said. “We have six more regular- season games and we have to to gather some momentum.”
Pacioretty was among several standouts for the Canadiens.
Eller scored his first goal in seven games, Alex Galchenyuk ended an 11- game drought and Greg Pateryn delivered a hit on Jimmy Hayes that not only gave his teammates a lift, but also produced a power play when Hayes went berserk and was hit with an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.
“I don’t know why he was so upset because I thought it was a good hit,” said Pateryn, who delivered a perfectly timed hip check.
“That’s what we like about him,” said coach Michel Therrien. “He’s a demanding guy to play against. We like the way he’s playing.”
Eller had a new linemate in Brian Flynn and said he felt his line brought the necessary energy.
“We’ll enjoy it tonight and appreciate what we accomplished, but this is only the first step for us,” Eller said.
When asked how close the Canadiens were to playing their best hockey, Eller replied: “Very close.”
Galchenyuk said he was relieved to score his 20th goal. He said he wasn’t looking to score when he controlled the puck behind the Florida net, but things opened up for him.
“I was looking for ( Subban), but there was a man on him and then I looked for ( Brendan Gallagher), but he was covered and I just went to the net,” said Galchenyuk, who lifted the puck over Luongo’s shoulder. “It was a relief to score.”
When asked whether he felt better because it was a clean goal, Galchenyuk said: “When you haven’t scored for a while, you don’t care how it goes in.” While Subban had an assist on the winning goal, his game was all over the map. He led the Canadiens with five shots, but he also had five giveaways and was minus- 1 on the night. He had a heart- stopping moment when he blew a tire in the final minute and upended Carey Price. The goaltender got up slowly, but didn’t appear to be hurt