I'll admit that I did not see that one coming...the Panthers looked like a bunch of little kittens out there and the Canadiens made the most of it. Before the game even started though, it was announced that Jesperi Kotkaniemi was sent down to Laval and that Ryan Poehling would be a healthy scratch. To be honest, I'm pleased Kotkaniemi was sent down. It will be much better for him to get first line minutes in Laval than to play on the third line in Montreal in a lost cause. As for Poehling, I except he may very well follow KK and Fleury shortly. It appears that management might finally have realized that the kids were better off in a development league helping the farm team to make a playoff push and let's face it, I prefer to see them being developed by Joel Bouchard in Laval than being benched by Julien in Montreal. Thankfully, Kotkaniemi seems ok with the move:
KK amène son sourire à la @Place_Bell ðŸ˜
— Rocket de Laval (@RocketLaval) February 1, 2020
Kk brought his smile at @Place_Bell ðŸ˜#GoRocket pic.twitter.com/2ToR9U96UL
As for the game well, the Canadiens started fast and furious and didn't stop pressing. Nick Suzuki opened the score with his 10th of the year at the 5 minute mark while Petry and Armia each collected an assist on the play and the Habs pretty much took charge of the rest of the period, shooting 16 times on Sergei Bobrovsky while Carey Price only had to turn 8 shots aside. Most of the Bell Centre crowd really was wondering what was going with the Panthers, they definitely didn't look like a playoffs team and the consensus was that they'd probably wake up in the second frame...
Il ne faut pas oublier Kovy! 😅
— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) February 1, 2020
Don't leave Kovy hanging!#GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/smu60TCPLK
They didn't though, if anything, they were even worst... Carey Price must have felt bored in his net since he only saw 4 pucks during those 20 minutes. Meanwhile, the Canadiens added a couple of goals through Artturi Lehkonen and Tomas Tatar with Jeff Petry getting a couple more assists on those goals.
In the 3rd, the Canadiens took a whooping 5 penalties but even with so many power plays, the Panthers just couldn't find a way to solve Carey Price who had to make 17 saves in the last period for a total of 29 to earn his 3rd shutout of the year. Brendan Gallagher completed the score with a nice deflection off a Jeff Petry shot meaning that the Canadiens' blue line got his 4th assist of the game, his 26th of the season (second on the team tied with Danault). Understandably, he was given the 1st star of the game while Lehkonen was the third and Suzuki the second.
Grâce à son 47e blanchissage aujourd'hui, Carey Price s'empare seul du 3e rang pour le plus grand nombre de blanchissages dans l'histoire des Canadiens!
— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) February 1, 2020
With his 47th career shutout today, @CP0031 takes sole possession of 3rd-most in Canadiens history!#GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/3JYrewY4B4
The Habs won't have time to rest on their laurels for long, they'll be back in action tomorrow afternoon when they welcome the Blue Jackets at the Bell Centre. As I write these lines, the Canadiens now have a 1.8% chance of making the playoffs and a 6% chance to win the first pick at the upcoming draft.