Panthers at Canadiens
THE STORY: It isn't quite panic time in Montreal, but the Canadiens know another home loss will likely change that. The club looks for its first win on home ice this season as it hosts the new-look Florida Panthers on Monday. The Canadiens are coming off a thrilling 5-4 overtime loss to the rival Toronto Maple Leafs two nights ago, dropping them to 0-2-2 at the Bell Centre. The team has lost five straight games overall and will be looking to avoid its first six-game slide since February 2007. Montreal will be hosting a Panthers club that made the first major trade of the young season, acquiring forwards Mikael Samuelsson and Marco Sturm from the Vancouver Canucks. The move was made to ignite an offense that had completely stagnated before pulling out a win over the New York Islanders over the weekend.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, FS Florida, RDS (Montreal)
ABOUT THE PANTHERS (4-3-0): Florida opened the season with promise but has taken a step back after dropping consecutive 3-0 decisions to Washington and Buffalo. The price was a steep one - the Panthers dealt former 30-goal man David Booth to the Canucks, along with center Steven Reinprecht and a third-round draft pick - but Samuelsson and Sturm should provide the club with some much-needed depth up front.
ABOUT THE CANADIENS (1-4-2): Montreal made its own trade over the weekend, acquiring center Petteri Nokelainen and defenseman Garrett Stafford from the Phoenix Coyotes. Nokelainen should give the Canadiens another dependable option among the bottom six forwards, but the deal doesn't address a Montreal back end that has surrendered 24 goals over the first seven games this season.
OVERTIME:
1. Montreal netminder Carey Price is 3-3-0 with a 2.33 goals-against average in six career games against Florida. He posted his only shutout against them in their last encounter.
2. The Canadiens prevailed in three of four meetings last season and has won six of their previous eight encounters overall.