Habs Pounce Panthers

    The Florida Panthers played the Montreal Canadiens for the final time this season and lost to them 4-1 on Sunday at BB&T Center. Montreal entered the game with the best record in the Eastern Conference and Florida had the worst.
    The Habs swept the Cats in the season series 3-0 this season while Florida swept them 4-0 last season. Both teams are expected to play in the same division next season when realignment is approved by the NHL Board Of Governors this week.
    Montreal(17-5-4) got on the scoreboard just two shifts in at 1:46 of the first period. Left wing David Desharnais skated the puck through the neutral zone, brought it to the inner edge of the left circle and released a wrist shot by Panthers goalie Jacob Markstrom's glove for a 1-0 lead.
    The Canadiens scored on their first power play at 8:42 to increase their lead to 2-0. Defenseman P.K. Subban fired a slapshot from the right point that was redirected by left wing Michael Ryder in the low slot.
    Florida(7-13-6) gave up two goals in the final five minutes of the second period. Center Tomas Plekanec passed the puck from behind the Panthers cage to Subban on the right point. His slapshot was deflected by right wing Brian Gionta in the slot area, saved by Markstrom and Gionta put in the rebound with 4:25 remaining.
    The Canadiens extended their lead to 4-0 with 2:13 left on defenseman Francis Boullion's first goal of the season. Gionta gave a lead pass to Ryder in the right circle and he found Boullion streak through the high slot for the goal.
    The Panthers snapped the shutout at 7:59 of the third period. Left wing Tomas Kopecky stopped a Montreal clearing pass on the left point. He sent a floating puck toward to the net with traffic in front and it went by Montreal goalie Peter Budaj for his tenth goal this season.
    The Cats closed the margin to 4-2 with 6:01 to go as center Shawn Matthias scored and extended his four-game point streak. Skille cleared his own zone and passed to Matthias who entered the Canadiens zone and ripped a shot from the left circle.
    Montreal put the game away on a power-play goal with 4:07 remaining as Subban rifled a slapshot from the right point that got deflected by Ryder in the slot for his second goal of the game.
    Florida had only 12 shots after two periods and were outshot 38-16 in the game. Markstrom dropped to 1-4-1 this season as he stopped 33 of 38 shots. Budaj stopped 14 shots and improved to 4-1-1. The Habs went 2-for-6 on the power play while the Cats were 0-for-1. Florida will host the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday night to end a three-game homestand.