Game 78: Montreal Canadiens vs. Florida Panthers
Start time: 7:00 PM EDT / 4:00 PM PDT
In the Canadiens region: TSN2 (English), RDS (French)
In the Panthers region: SCRIPPS
Streaming: ESPN+, RDS, TSN+
There are five games left for the Montreal Canadiens to play in the regular season, and the next three will be contested at the Bell Centre. Before ending the campaign versus Metropolitan Division opponents, the Habs will face two final division rivals before the playoffs begin. Before a clash with implications for the top seed in the group, they will take on the Florida Panthers, a team that went into the season dreaming about a third consecutive Stanley Cup, and now on the way to finishing last in the Eastern Conference.
Injuries spoiled any chance the Panthers had of another championship. Tonight’s lineup features only a handful of their regulars with several injured throughout the year and then a group of veterans shut down for the season a few days ago to get them a head start on their recovery. What was already a long list today added Matthew Tkachuk, who is out day-to-day. The leading scorers among the active players are Sam Bennett with 58 points on the year and Carter Verhaeghe with 54; Montreal will dress five players who have hit at least 60 so far.
Recovery might be part of the reasoning behind all the absences, but there is probably also some tanking going on. The Panthers have a top-10 protected draft pick in play, and, currently sixth from the bottom, they are likely to hold on to that pick, The farther they fall, the better the prospect they can select. An anomalous year from a team that should be expected to contend for the Stanley Cup again next season is an unexpected opportunity for the Panthers to add a potential future star to the organization, so losing is probably in the best long-term interest, and that’s a situation that would suit the Canadiens just fine.
Montreal Canadiens projected lineup
| Left Wing |
Centre |
Right Wing |
| #13 Cole Caufield |
#14 Nick Suzuki |
#20 Juraj Slafkovský |
| #85 Alexandre Texier |
#15 Alex Newhook |
#93 Ivan Demidov |
| #76 Zachary Bolduc |
#71 Jake Evans |
#77 Kirby Dach |
| #17 Josh Anderson |
#24 Phillip Danault |
#91 Oliver Kapanen |
| Left Defence |
Right Defence |
| #8 Mike Matheson |
#53 Noah Dobson |
| #47 Jayden Struble |
#48 Lane Hutson |
| #72 Arber Xhekaj |
#42 Adam Engström |
| Starter |
Backup |
| #75 Jakub Dobeš |
#32 Jacob Fowler |
Injured: Alexandre Carrier, Kaiden Guhle
Ill: Joe Veleno
Scratched: Brendan Gallagher, Patrik Laine, Samuel Montembeault
Florida Panthers projected lineup
| Left Wing |
Centre |
Right Wing |
| Carter Verhaeghe |
Sam Bennett |
Mackie Samoskevich |
| Jesper Boqvist |
Eetu Luostarinen |
A.J. Greer |
| Cole Schwindt |
Tomas Nosek |
Noah Gregor |
| Cole Reinhardt |
Luke Kunin |
Vinnie Hinostroza |
| Left Defence |
Right Defence |
| Gustav Forsling |
Dmitry Kulikov |
| Tobias Bjornfot |
Seth Jones |
| Donovan Sebrango |
Michael Benning |
| Starter |
Backup |
| Daniil Tarasov |
Sergei Bobrovsky |
