Habs Punch Panthers

     The Florida Panthers started a three-game homestand against divisional opponents as they fell to the Montreal Canadiens 3-2 on Tuesday night at BB&T Center. The Panthers lost their second straight game and trail the Boston Bruins by seven points for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. The Canadiens moved in front of the Atlantic Division with 95 points and passed the Tampa Bay Lightning.
     All five goals in the contest were scored during the second period. Florida(31-25-14) got the initial lead at 4:20 of the frame. A Jonathan Huberdeau cross-ice pass was stopped in the high crease by Tom Gilbert, however Aleksander Barkov followed with a wrist shot from the low slot for his 12th goal and career-high 25th point this season. Huberdeau now has nine points in his last eight games.
     The Habs responded quickly to even it up just over one minute later at 5:44. Brandon Prust fed a pass from the right circle to the left point and Alexei Emelin snapped a shot into the top right corner of the net. He had been held scoreless in his last 12 games with his last tally on January 27 against Dallas.
     Montreal(44-20-7) pulled off a surprise at 8:23 with a shorthanded goal. Jacob De La Rose sent a cross-ice pass into the neutral zone where it was handled by Prust on the left wing. He skated into the Panthers zone and found De La Rose for a one-time shot from the low slot that went by the glove side of Dan Ellis.
     The Panthers tied the contest at 2-2 with 6:25 left in the second as Brandon Pirri scored his 13th goal in his last 18 games. Brad Boyes had the puck near the right corner, made a drop pass to Pirri in the top right circle where he finished the play with a snap shot by Dustin Tokarski. Pirri extended his goal-scoring streak to three games.
     P.K. Subban would score the eventual game-winning goal with 4:34 remaining in the period. After the puck was shaken off the exterior netting of the Panthers cage, Lars Eller steered it to Subban at the top right circle who then delayed and blasted in a shot for his 13th goal of the season.