Montreal
Nick Suzuki scored twice as the Montreal Canadiens defeated the Florida Panthers 5-3 on Tuesday night, snapping a seven-game losing streak.
Joel Armia, Cole Caufield, and Jake Evans also scored, Alex Newhook assisted twice, and Sam Montembeault made 37 saves for the Canadiens (29-33-12, 70 points), who have won four of their last five.
Anton Lundell had a goal and an assist, while Aleksander Barkov and Sam Bennett also scored. Anthony Stolarz made 34 saves for Florida (47-24-5, 99 points), which has lost four of five and eight of ten (2-7-1).
The Panthers were without two of their top forwards, Carter Verhaeghe (upper-body injury) and Matthew Tkachuk (illness), while defenseman Aaron Ekblad suffered an undisclosed injury late in the first period and did not return.
Florida entered the day two points behind the Boston Bruins for first place in the Atlantic Division, with seven games remaining for both teams, including a game in Boston on Saturday.
The Canadiens trailed by one goal at the start of the second period, but tied it 2-2 at 5:58.
Florida defenseman Dmitry Kulikov attempted a pass to his defensive partner in his own zone, but Suzuki intercepted the puck and scored from the slot.
Suzuki scored again on a power play, giving the Canadiens a 3-2 lead at 12:24 in the second.
Caufield extended the lead to 4-2 with his 21st goal of the season on a wraparound 33 seconds into the third period, and Evans added to it with a short-handed breakaway at 4:34.
Bennett scored with 1:16 remaining from the bottom of the left circle to make the score 5-3.
The Panthers took a 1-0 lead at 9:16 in the first period when Lundell skated around a Montreal defender and scored from close range for his 10th goal of the season.
Stolarz saved Michael Pezzetta’s wrist shot, but Armia was in position to score the rebound and tie the game 1-1 at 10:12.
Florida regained the lead at 13:13 of the first period.
Vladimir Tarasenko centered a pass from the boards to Barkov, who cut down the middle. He faked a shot before cutting across the crease and scoring on a backhand while tripping over Montembeault’s pads.
