Canadiens at Panthers
Home cooking has been beneficial for the Florida Panthers, who look to extend their winning streak at BB&T Center to five games when they host the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday. The Panthers continued their victorious ways on Sunday, when they scored four times in the third period and matched a season high in goals with a 6-4 victory over Toronto. Jimmy Hayes netted his third goal in two contests as Florida improved to 6-0-1 in its last seven home contests and 5-1-1 in its last seven overall.
"It's coming, we're getting plenty of scoring chances and we're putting pucks at the net," said Florida coach Gerard Gallant, who was an assistant with Montreal last season. The Canadiens recorded their third straight victory and sixth in seven games with a 3-1 triumph over Carolina on Monday. Carey Price turned aside 28 shots while making his 11th consecutive start, but Dustin Tokarski could receive the nod on Tuesday with Montreal playing on back-to-back nights.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, RSN, RDS (Montreal), FSN Florida
ABOUT THE CANADIENS (23-11-2): Max Pacioretty scored his team-leading 14th goal into an empty net on Monday. Pacioretty has six points (one goal, five assists) in his last five games, while former linemate David Desharnais has five (three goals, two assists) in his last six. Pacioretty scored two goals and set up another while Desharnais recorded one of each as Montreal skated to a 4-1 victory over Florida on March 29 to split last season's series at two wins apiece.
ABOUT THE PANTHERS (16-9-8): Roberto Luongo has won five of his last six outings but has struggled considerably against his hometown team by going 10-14-2 lifetime versus the Canadiens. Defenseman Willie Mitchell scored a goal against the Maple Leafs but joined forward Tomas Kopecky in receiving a day off from Monday's practice. "Everything is fine," Gallant told the Miami Herald. "They both got a little banged up (Sunday), but it's nothing serious."
OVERTIME
1. Hayes, who has scored 10 goals, is one shy of tying his career high set last season.
2. Former Panthers Ds Bryan Allen (illness) and Mike Weaver (concussion) have missed six straight games for the Canadiens.
3. Florida LW Jonathan Huberdeau's sister Josiane will sing the Canadian national anthem prior to Tuesday's game. Huberdeau is from St. Jerome, Quebec, which is just outside of Montreal.