Canadiens vs. Panthers Game Thread, roster, lines, and how to watch
With 13 games left on the schedule, the Habs are still trying to salvage what they can from a shipwrecked season.
The Habs have 0.6 percent chance of making the playoffs now. With the season winding down, the focus has shifted to evaluating individual talent, with a lineup full of youth and role players like Mike Brown who is continuing to find himself in the lineup since coming over from the San Jose Sharks on a waiver pick-up.
With the season clearly lost, and the focus on the future, Habs fans can still tune in to watch Alex Galchenyuk reach for the thirty-goal plateau, a realistic target given he is five goals off reaching that milestone for the first time in his career. Alongside him, Max Pacioretty will be driving offense as well, in search of the thirty-goal mark for the fourth time in his career, and third year in a row, if he can get six more in the thirteen remaining games.
The Panthers are in a three-team fight for top spot in the Atlantic Division with the Boston Bruins and Tampa Bay Lightning. The Panthers and Lightning are tied with 85 points each with 69 games played, while the Bruins sit one point up with 70 games played. The Panthers played in Brooklyn last night, losing 3-2 in a come from behind loss where the Panthers gave up three goals in the third period, including one in the final two minutes to lose the game.
Lineup notes: P.K. Subban is still not ready to come back, remaining day-to-day with a neck injru; Lars Eller will remain out still battling an illness; Stefan Matteau returns to the lineup after missing one game due to a lower body injury; Charles Hudon was sent back to St. John's, while Darren Deitz remains in the lineup in place of Nathan Beaulieu who will not play tonight, but will probably suit up tomorrow; Mike Condon gets the start between the pipes.
The puck drops at 7:30 PM EST.
How To Watch:
In Canada (French): RDS
In Canada (English): Sportsnet
In the Panther's Region: FS-F
Elsewhere: NHL GameCenter, NHL Center Ice, NHL.TV
| Left Wing | Center | Right Wing |
| Max Pacioretty | Alex Galchenyuk | Sven Andrighetto |
| Paul Byron | Tomas Plekanec | Torrey Mitchell |
| Stefan Matteau | Michael McCarron | Lucas Lessio |
| Jacob de la Rose | Philip Danault | Mike Brown |
| Left Defense | Right Defense |
| Andrei Markov | Mark Barberio |
| Alexei Emelin | Greg Pateryn |
| Victor Bartley | Darren Deitz |
| Goaltenders |
| Mike Condon |
| Ben Scrivens |
Scratched: None
Injuries: Carey Price (lower body), Daniel Carr (lower body), Jeff Petry (lower body), Brian Flynn (lower body), David Desharnais (broken foot), Tom Gilbert (lower body), Nathan Beaulieu (lower body), Brendan Gallagher (lower body), P.K. Subban (neck), Lars Eller (illness)
| Left Wing | Center | Right Wing |
| Jonathan Huberdeau | Aleksander Barkov | Jaromir Jagr |
| Jussi Jokinen | Vincent Torcheck | Reilly Smith |
| Quinton Howden | Nick Bjugstad | Jiri Hudler |
| Garrett Wilson | Logan Shaw | Shawn Thornton |
| Left Defense | Right Defense |
| Aaron Ekblad | Dmitry Kulikov |
| Eric Gudbranson | Brian Campbell |
| Jakub Kindl | Alex Petrovic |
| Goaltenders |
| Al Montoya |
| Roberto Luongo |
Scratched: Steven Kampfer
Injuries: Teddy Purcell (groin), Derek MacKenzie (foot), Willie Mithcell (upper body), Dave Bolland (lower body)
Check out the enemy over at Hockey Wilderness.