The Florida Panthers fell to the Montreal Canadiens 3-2 in overtime on Tuesday night at Amerant Bank Arena. It was the final contest for the Cats in the 2025 calendar year. The Panthers next game will be the 2026 Winter Classic at loanDepot park in Miami on Friday night against the New York Rangers.
An on-ice ceremony was held before the game. Panthers center Brad Marchand received a gold stick for getting his 1,000th career point in the National Hockey League versus the Washington Capitals on November 13.
There was no scoring in the first period and the second period. It was the first time this season that the Cats and the Canadiens were held scoreless in the first two periods of play.
Florida(21-15-3) moved ahead 1-0 on the power play with 9:42 remaining in the third period. Seth Jones made an outlet pass from his own zone. Sam Bennett passed the puck in the neutral zone. Marchand entered the Montreal(21-12-6) zone on the left side, went around the net and skated through the right circle. He snapped a shot from the high slot by Sam Montembeault for his 23th goal of the season.
It became 2-0 for the Panthers with 4:59 to go in the period. Anton Lundell won the faceoff in the right circle and Eetu Luostarinen touched the puck. Sam Reinhart placed in his 22nd goal this season on a rising forehand shot from the right wing. It was his third goal in the past two contests.
The Habs scored 32 seconds later to make it 2-1 with 4:27 left in the third. Lane Hutson handed the puck off on the left point. Cole Caufield skated around the left point and through the slot area. He chalked up his 19th goal of the campaign on a wrist shot from the low slot.
The Canadiens pulled their goal for an extra skater at 2:05 and they tied it up 2-2 with 1:22 left. Ivan Demidov passed the puck from the end wall and Nick Suzuki fired a one-time slap shot from the top right circle past Daniil Tarasov for his 12th goal in 2025-26.
Montreal won the contest in overtime at the 3:24 mark with the man advantage. Noah Dobson connected a cross-ice pass from the left circle. Hutson angled a pass from the right circle and Suzuki zipped in a wrist shot from the left side of the crease for his second tally of the contest and 13th goal this year.
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