Panthers 4, Canadiens 3
SUNRISE, Fla. -- A fierce rally from a three-goal deficit catapulted the Florida Panthers to a franchise record 44th victory this season and kept them atop the Atlantic Division.
Aleksander Barkov scored four points including the game-winning goal with 28.1 seconds left as the Panthers defeated the Montreal Canadiens 4-3 on Saturday night at BB&T Center.
The Panthers (44-25-9) set a franchise record for wins in a season and remain two points in front of the Tampa Bay Lightning, who won at home against the New Jersey Devils, atop the Atlantic Division. They drew closer to clinching a playoff berth.
The Canadiens (36-37-6), already eliminated from playoff contention could not follow up their 3-0 Thursday night victory in Tampa Bay with another win in Florida.
Jonathan Huberdeau tied it 3-3 with a power-play goal with 7:43 remaining.
Florida outshot Montreal 17-8 in the final period.
Goaltender Roberto Luongo had 24 saves, while rookie Habs netminder Mike Crondon saved 35 shots.
Brendan Gallagher struck first for the Canadiens midway through the first period, one-timing a pass from Joel Hanley past Luongo. Max Pacioretty added to his team lead in points with the secondary assist.
Montreal nearly took a two-goal lead before the first intermission when a Gallagher shot was deflected in by Andrei Markov, but a challenge from Panthers coach Gerard Gallant revealed the Canadiens were offside on the play.
The Canadiens, however, scored a pair of quick second-period goals separated by just more than a minute of action to take a 3-0 advantage.
No one was offside when David Desharnais converted a two-on-one opportunity off a swift pass from Paul Byron, and Torrey Mitchell deflected one in from in close to put the Canadiens up three.
Tomas Plekanec had the secondary assist on Mitchell's goal to tie Plekanec with Claude Provost for 18th on the club's all-time list.
Florida got those two goals back before the second intermission with a pair of goals from Barkov as he joined Vincent Trocheck and Jaromir Jagr as the third Panther to push past 25 goals this season.
The Canadiens will host the Panthers in Montreal on Tuesday. Florida first makes a stop in Toronto on Monday to face the Maple Leafs.
NOTES: Panthers RW Jaromir Jagr was nominated for the Bill Masterson Memorial Trophy for a player who "best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication" to the game. ... Canadiens G Carey Price, last season's Hart Trophy winner who hasn't played since Nov. 25 because of a lower-body injury, returned to practice Thursday, and told SportsNet that he hopes to return before season's end but will be ready for next season regardless. ... Panthers D Brian Campbell is one game from tying Olli Jokinen's franchise record for consecutive games played (373) after playing Saturday. ... Canadiens D Brett Lernout took D Nathan Beaulieu's spot in the lineup after Beaulieu sustained a season-ending broken thumb on Thursday. ... Panthers RW Logan Shaw was sent back to AHL affiliate Portland on Friday. ... Canadiens LW Daniel Carr jumped into LW Michael McCarron's spot. ... Panthers scratches were D Alex Petrovic, C Vincent Trocheck, LW Garrett Wilson and C Greg McKegg. ... Canadiens scratches included RW Mike Brown, C Stefan Matteau, LW Jacob De La Rose and D P.K. Subban.