A CHIPPY AFFAIR
Canadiens Centre Matthew Peca gets dragged to the ice by Panthers defenceman Aaron Ekblad during Pre-season action Wednesday night at the Bell Centre. The Habs newcomer scored a goal and an assist, but Montreal lost 5-2. Pat Hickey has details.
The bottom line: The Canadiens gave a valiant effort against a Florida Panthers lineup laden with NHL talent, but their inability to finish proved costly as they dropped a 5-2 decision Wednesday night at the Bell Centre. Montreal managed only one fluke goal before Nikita Scherbak scored late in the game on a perfect feed from Matthew Peca.
Where’s is the defence?: The biggest impediment to Carey Price making a comeback this season may be the defence playing in front of him. The Panthers scored on their second shot on goal, but Price didn’t have much of a chance after Evgenii Dadonov was left alone in front at 4:32. Nick Bjugstad carried the puck into the Montreal zone and got a step on Jordie Benn, who inadvertently kicked the puck to Aleksander Barkov at the side boards. Barkov found Dadonov in the slot, where he had a free shot on Price. Dadonov made it 2-0 with a power-play goal at 11:07. The Canadiens were killing a penalty to Alexandre Grenier when Brett Lernout was called for slashing. That gave the Panthers a 6-on-4 advantage on the delayed penalty and Dadonov was at the side of the net when he converted a pass from Vincent Trochek.
The goalies: Price played 32 minutes and stopped 20 of the 22 shots he faced. He made his best save on a Florida power play shortly before he handed the crease over to Antti Niemi. Mike Hoffman wound up from the faceoff circle and Price responded by snaring the puck out of the air with his glove. Jared McCann scored twice on Niemi in the third period, with one of the goals coming in a short-handed situation. Bjugstad completed the scoring with an empty-netter. Niemi stopped 16 of 18 shots and six of his stops came at the beginning of the third period when the Canadiens were short-handed for more than five minutes after Max Domi short-circuited a Montreal power play. He was assessed a minor penalty, a major and a game misconduct for sucker-punching Aaron Ekblad. Roberto Luongo played the first two periods for the Panthers and stopped 20 of 21 shots.
Better to be lucky than good: Nick Suzuki picked up his first point as a Canadien, but the assist appeared to be afterthought. The Canadiens got on the scoreboard at 13:19 when Peca was credited with a power-play goal when his attempt to find Suzuki with a cross-ice pass caromed off Florida defenceman Keith Yandle. Mike Reilly was originally credited with the only assist but Suzuki’s helper was added a few minutes later.
Missed opportunities: Montreal had two chances to tie the score while the teams were playing 4-on-4 early in the second period. Paul Byron had a breakaway, but was foiled when he tried to slip the puck between Luongo’s pads. Seconds later, Jonathan Drouin drove hard to the net, but Luongo was able to made a leg save.
Coming attractions: The Canadiens go on the road Thursday for what is, in effect, a home game, as they face the Washington Capitals at the Vidéotron centre in Quebec City (7 p.m., TSN2, RDS, TSN-690 Radio).