Panthers Blank Habs

     The Florida Panthers began a five-game home stand and toppled the Montreal Canadiens 5-0 at BB&T Center on Thursday night. The Panthers have won 14 of their last 18 games with a 14-3-1 during that span. It was the fourth game of a six-game road trip for the Habs.
     Roberto Luongo picked up his 75th NHL shutout which is 10th place all-time. He made 40 saves in a shutout, third highest ever in his career.
     Florida(33-25-7) broke out to a 1-0 lead on the power play with 3:44 remaining in the first period. Vincent Trocheck had the puck in the low left circle, connected a pass to Jonathan Huberdeau in the slot and he scored on a wrist shot for his 21st goal of the campaign.
     In the second period, the Panthers increased their gap to 2-0 at the 1:41 mark. Keith Yandle sent a lead pass through the neutral zone to Aleksander Barkov. He noticed Bjugstad alone ahead of him and passed to him in the slot. Bjugstad faked the forehand shot and went to his backhand for the tally. It was his fourth goal in the last two contests and 15th goal of the year.
     Montreal(25-31-11) was then down 3-0 just over a minute later at 2:44. Derek MacKenzie was on the end wall and spotted Micheal Haley in the slot area. Haley snapped a shot by Charlie Lindgren to make it a three-goal margin.
     The momentum stayed with the Panthers to begin the third period as they made it 4-0 at 1:23. Yandle sent a diagonal pass from the left point to the right circle and Dadonov powered in a one-time slap shot for his 21st goal of the season.
     The Canadiens thought that they finally got the puck by Roberto Luongo at the 3:30 mark of the third, however it did not count due to goaltender interference. Jeff Petry threw a shot toward the Panthers net from the top of the zone and Paul Byron scored on a high backhand shot from the low slot. Jacob de la Rose seemed to graze into Luongo on the play.
     The Cats added on to the lead with 5:04 left in the frame and they collected an NHl season-high 10th shorthanded goal. Yandle was in his own zone and banked it off the left-wing boards ahead to Trocheck. He carried it into the Canadiens zone through the left circle and eventually put it into the cage for his 26th tally on the season.