Danault OT goal lifts Habs over Panthers
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[December 30, 2016]
SUNRISE, Fla. -- Phillip Danault
and Max Pacioretty helped the Montreal Canadiens break a losing
streak and finally beat the Florida Panthers.
Danault scored a breakaway goal 39 seconds into overtime on a feed
from Pacioretty as Montreal rallied to beat Florida 3-2 on Thursday.
Pacioretty gained possession of the puck near the Florida bench and
sent a long pass to a streaking Danault, who skated up the middle of
the ice with no Panthers defenders near.
Danault's shot beat Florida goalie James Reimer stick side for the
overtime win.
"I saw the hole. I looked first. If there wasn't an opening, I
probably wouldn't have shot there. It wasn't big, but it went in.
Big win," said Danault, who recorded his seventh goal.
Montreal coach Michel Therrien said Pacioretty and Danault played a
strong game, as did Brendan Gallagher and goalie Al Montoya, who
played the previous two seasons with Florida as a backup to Roberto
Luongo.
"I thought Pacioretty, as a true leader tonight, you always lead by
your actions and definitely and played really well. And Danault was
solid. That whole line, they were really good for us tonight,"
Therrien said.
"It was important for us to bounce back after the third period that
we played yesterday. Right from the get-go I thought we dictated the
game."
Pacioretty and Gallagher scored for Montreal (22-9-5) while
Alexander Radulov, Nathan Beaulieu, Danault and Pacioretty recorded
assists. Montoya posted 31 saves.
Gallagher scored his sixth goal at 17:23 of the third period to tie
the game at 2-2.
"It's good for Gally to score that tying goal, good for his
confidence. I thought he played a good game," Therrien said.
Jason Demers and Vincent Trocheck scored for Florida (15-14-8).
Jussi Jokinen, Jonathan Marchessault and Keith Yandle had assists
and James Reimer made 38 saves for the Panthers.
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The win broke a three-game losing streak by Montreal and five
overall to the Panthers, the Canadiens rival in the Atlantic
Division.
Trocheck said the Panthers, who have played in 16 games requiring
extra time, must find a way to lock down the late leads.
"We've just got to learn how to close out games as a team. We're
sitting back too much once we get leads," the center said.
"We play our game up until we get a lead and then we get back on our
heels. Any time (you do that) any good team's going to take it to
you and get scoring opportunities, and that's what happened."
Florida interim head coach Tom Rowe said the tough games are taking
a toll on his club.
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"When you're as undermanned as we are, you scratch and claw for
every point. We had to use of top guys an awful lot for penalties,"
Rowe said.
Florida won the previous five meetings, sweeping the four-game set
last season and winning a 4-3 overtime thriller Nov. 15 in Montreal
on Aaron Ekblad's broken-stick game-winner.
The
play was sloppy in the first period as both clubs skated in the
second game of back-to-backs, but the Panthers finally broke through
by way of a fortunate bounce.
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Jokinen dug a puck out from a scrum behind the Montreal goal and
zipped a pass to Demers, stationed by himself above the right
circle. The defenseman's blast was initially saved by Montoya, but
the puck caromed off Canadiens defenseman Shea Weber and into the
net for Demers' seventh goal at 13:58.
The tally tied Demers' career high for a season. The Quebec native
scored seven for Dallas last year in 62 games.
The teams traded power-play goals in the first half of a
penalty-filled second period.
Pacioretty scored his 15th at 5:45 from inside the right circle to
tie it 1-1 off a pass from Radulov.
The goal was the 10th in the last 12 games for the red-hot
Pacioretty.
Rowe said top line center Aleksander Barkov would likely be out 2-3
weeks from the injury he suffered on Wednesday against Toronto.
Trocheck scored his 10th when he sent a shot from above the left
circle at 9:02 that beat Montoya high on the glove side for a 2-1
lead.
NOTES: Montreal scratched RW Sven Andrighetto and D Zach Redmond.
... D Jeff Petry played in his 400th NHL game. He played in his
100th with the Canadiens on Dec. 17 against Washington. ... Florida
scratched D Dylan McIlrath, C Aleksander Barkov and C Kyle Rau. ...
C Michael Sgarbossa, acquired from Anaheim last month for Logan
Shaw, made his Florida Panthers debut. ... The Panthers placed RW
Reilly Smith (concussion) on injured reserve retroactive to Dec. 22.
... Florida interim coach Tom Rowe said top line forward Barkov, the
team's leading scorer with 27 points, had an MRI and is out
indefinitely after being hurt against Toronto on Wednesday. Top six
wingers Jonathan Huberdeau and Reilly Smith are also injured and
unavailable. ... The Panthers were coming off a season-high 47 shots
on goal in the 3-2 shootout loss to the Maple Leafs. Their 40 shots
allowed tied their season-high.
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