Panthers Slip By Habs

     The Florida Panthers played their second of five straight games on the road and came from behind to beat the Montreal Canadiens 3-2 in a shootout at Bell Centre on Thursday night. The Cats are now one point back from the Boston Bruins for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
     Brandan Gallagher scored a couple of goals for Montreal(37-15-5) during the second period to take a 2-0 lead. He got his 14th goal at 2:31 as he put in the rebound from the crease between the legs of Roberto Luongo following a right-wing shot by Max Pacioretty. He picked up his 15th goal at 10:32 after P.K Subban backhanded the puck to the low slot and he scored off a scramble for the Canadiens from the left of the crease.
     Florida(26-19-12) answered back at 11:54. Tomas Fleischmann skated to the high slot area and released a shot that bounced past Carey Price for his seventh goal. He now has 16 points in his last 26 games. Jonathan Huberdeau was credited with an assist on that play when he stopped a clearing pass at the right point. 
     In the third period, the Panthers evened it up 2-2 at 4:57. Chris Kampfer scored his first goal in a Florida uniform on a wrist shot from the left side of the goal line. He performed a give-and-go pass with Fleischmann who was behind the Habs cage.
     The contest would go into a shootout. Pacioretty scored on the only attempt for the Canadiens during the second round on a wrist shot over the right shoulder of Luongo. Nick Bjugstad evened it on the Panthers third attempt with a shot over the leg arm of Price. Florida clinched it during the sixth round as Dave Bolland slowed down and put the puck through the five-hole for the victory.