Florida Panthers drop their final preseason game to Montreal

The Florida Panthers were heading into this match on a three game winning streak, hoping to end off their preseason with a win. Were they able to do it?

The Panthers didn’t quite get the start they were looking for, as Montreal was fiercely controlling play in the opening minutes of the period. As the period went on, the Cats seemed to find their feet again and started applying pressure in the Habs defensive zone.

Both teams exchanged chances from time to time, but it was Paul Byron who opened up the scoring for Montreal, after receiving a cross-crease pass from Andrew Shaw:

The Panthers didn’t quite seem to give up, as they started to apply more and more pressure before the period ended. With exactly 3 minutes left in the first period, Aleksander Barkov sent Dadonov a beautiful stretch-ice pass, only to find Dadonov clear on a breakaway.

Nevertheless… Evgenii was pushed into the net by Jeff Petry (during that moment), although, the puck did cross the goal line before Dadonov crashed right into Lindgren:

After the Panthers were awarded the goal, Claude Julien immediately used his challenge (to argue goaltender interference). After the referees huddled and discussed the previous play, they mutually agreed that because Petry pushed Dadonov straight into the goalie, they had no other choice then to award the Panthers a good goal. The goal tied the game up at one.

Halfway through the second and on the man advantage, the Habs counter attacked back the other way, only to find a 2 on 1 between Byron and Martinsen against a lonely Owen Tippett.

With such ease, Martinsen sauced the puck over Tippett’s stick, only to find Byron one on one with Luongo. Byron then slipped the puck underneath Luongo’s legs to give the Habs a 2-1 lead. Byron also recorded his 2nd goal of the game:

Things went from bad to worse in the third, as Andrew Shaw extended the Habs lead (early on) to 3-1 on the night. A minute and thirteen seconds into the third, Shaw found himself some space between Michael Matheson, in which he skated right around him finding himself alone with Luongo (1 on 1), eventually roofing a backhand top-shelf:

Andrew Shaw’s goal would cap off the night with the Canadiens winning their first preseason game in front of their home crowd. The Panthers would finish their preseason campaign with a total record of 4-1-1.

The Florida Panthers may have dropped their final exhibition game to the Habs (who weren’t victorious in any of their previous matches), but have shown us fans that they won’t be a pushover by any means this season. The fans have a lot to get excited about this year and it starts on Friday, October 6th against the Tampa Bay Lightning!