Season series swept. The Cats fell 2-3 in overtime to the Montreal Canadiens and failed to win a single game against them this season. It looked like they had the win sewn up, but a last-second goal by Montreal tied the game to send it into OT, where Suzuki ended it with a wraparound goal. Of the four games that the Panthers played against them, this was by far their best effort until fumbling at the end. Getting a point out of it is the least they deserve. I said it a couple of weeks ago that the Panthers were likely going to struggle between late March and Early April, and so far that’s held true. While they won the division last season despite it, that’ll probably not be the case this season unless they pull out of the slump sooner.
Mikkola & Samoskevich:
Goal scoring came from the defense and the power play in this match. The Cats won the special teams and were able to kill off all of the Montreal Canadiens’ power plays in stark contrast to the Sunday game, where they struggled. After letting in a deflected goal early in the period, Mikkola tied it up. A faceoff win from Lundell got the puck to Mikkola, whose shot bounced off a Habs player and past Montembeault for the 1-1 tie. It looked like the Cats had taken a 2-1 lead off a Balinskis shot that hit the crossbar and then bounced off Greer and in. The goal was initially waived off, then a discussion amongst the refs reversed the call so they could video review. Upon video review the goal was once again disallowed as they cited Greer for kicking the puck into the net, and as much as Florida fans may not like it, it was the right call to make whether the kick was intentional or not as Greer was trying to free his skates which were tied up with a Montreal players’. Mackie Samoskevich gave the Panthers the lead on a power-play goal that bounced off a Canadiens player and through Montembeault’s five-hole. A little passing back and forth with Jones gave Mackie the positioning he needed to take the shot, and the Panthers now have 10 PP goals in their last 12 games.
How To Get A Call:
The officiating was questionable at best during this match for both sides. There was no shortage of players going to the box, looking confused, or players looking at the refs confused because of the lack of calls. The officials aren’t going to call every single thing, but there were some pretty egregious non-calls in the first period, and then what finally gets called as the first penalty in the second is Barkov for interference with barely enough contact to really do anything and a fall from a Montreal Canadiens player. The Habs sent two Panthers hard into the end boards, and neither was called a penalty. Plenty of tripping penalties on both sides in the first period didn’t get called either, and Bennett’s roughing call at the end of the second was the only penalty out of the scrum at the front of the Montreal net. There wasn’t a call on the Savard slash against Mackie Samoskevich post-period buzzer. There was no rhyme or reason to what was or wasn’t a penalty or what changed from the first period to the second & third. It was a confusing game of penalties for both teams, and the refs let seemingly everything go in the first period just to start calling some ridiculous things in the final two periods.
Didn’t Finish:
Florida played nearly two full perfect periods against the Montreal Canadiens but lost their grip on the game in the dying seconds of the third period and overtime. It was a great effort after the first period, especially with the defense making some big-time plays. Both Jones and Schmidt made massive plays on the 2-on-1 chances from Montreal. Forsling and Jones topped the NHL GameScore Impact Card from Hockey Stat Cards on X. The Cats were playing as a five-man unit in the final two periods, unfortunately, they got burned by a failed clear and a desperation shot toward the net that bounced and found Suzuki with an open net to put the puck in; Vanecek was set to make the save on the long shot from the blue line. Suzuki called game in OT with a wraparound goal, and the Cats walk out of Montreal with an overtime loss. The point keeps them in the fight for the division title, but they’re two points back from Toronto and a point back from Tampa Bay. It’d be nice if the Cats could get Ekblad and Tkachuk back before the playoffs, but that’s not an option. Tkachuk started skating this week and touching pucks, but no serious conditioning. HC Paul Maurice said his timeline hasn’t changed, and they’re still expecting a return for the playoffs. Ekblad’s suspension will be up in Game 3 of the first round. Kulikov is on the road trip with the Panthers, but they’re not expecting him to play until possibly the last week of the regular season. HC Paul Maurice’s take on the match, “82 games in a year and you’ll get one of those. We’ll leave it here.”
ITR 44: We Have A Champion…Again – Inside The Rink
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