Habs Stop Panthers

     The Florida Panthers played their first game since they were eliminated from the playoff race and fell to the Montreal Canadiens 4-1 at BB&T Center on Saturday night. The Cats, who have lost five of their last six games, head out on a short two-game road trip to New Jersey and New York.
     It was midway through the first period when Montreal(43-26-7) got the first goal of the game. Thomas Vanek snapped a shot from the high slot area which was saved by Dan Ellis and trickled behind him. Vanek found the rebound and put it into the net at 10:47 for his 27th goal of the season. It was his sixth goal in the last seven games.
     The Habs, who won their fifth straight game and eight of their last nine, make it 2-0 one second after their second power play ended with 2:03 left in the first. Daniel Briere sent a cross-ice pass from the top right circle to Alexei Emelin in the low left circle. He threaded a pass across the crease to Max Pacioretty at the right edge of the blue paint and he followed through with a wrist shot into an open net for his 34th goal. He scored for the third consecutive game and for the fourth time in his last five games.
     The Canadiens extended their lead to 3-0 with six minutes to go in the second period. Vanek connected a pass to David Desharnais in the slot and he moved the puck to Pacioretty at the left of the crease. He then redirected the pass for his second goal of the game and 35th goal this season.
     The shutout was broken by Florida(27-40-8) at 16:09. Sean Bergenheim sent a pass from the low slot to Brad Boyes in the low right circle and he fired a shot by Carey Price for his 19th goal.
     It was not until the final minute of the third period when Montreal scored again when Desharnais put in a shot from center ice into an empty net for his 15th tally with 23.4 seconds remaining.  
     Florida was scoreless on the power play for the seventh straight game as they went 0-for-4 while the Habs were 0-for-5. Price improved to 32-18-5 as he made 36 saves. Ellis, who made his first home start since he was acquired from Dallas, stopped 15 shots as his record dropped to 5-9-0.