Canadiens clinch division with win over Panthers
SUNRISE, Fla. -- Artturi Lehkonen produced two goals and one assist as the Montreal Canadiens clinched the Atlantic Division title, defeating the Florida Panthers 4-1 on Monday night at the BB&T Center.
Lehkonen, who had a secondary assist on a goal by Andrew Shaw, scored unassisted 1:27 into the third period, snapping a 1-1 tie. He scored again on a rebound with just 3:11 left in the third.
Alexander Radulov added an empty-net goal with 1:26 left, and rookie goalie Charlie Lindgren got the win.
A bright spot for Florida was the play of Jonathan Marchessault, who became just the seventh player in Panthers history to reach 30 goals. With his second-period goal, he became the first Panther in seven years to net 30.
Montreal (46-24-9) won its fifth straight game and has compiled 101 points with three contests remaining in the regular season.
The Panthers (33-35-11), who were eliminated from playoff contention last week in a loss at Montreal, are 4-12-1 in their past 17 games. Already thinking of next season, the Panthers used defenseman MacKenzie Weegar, 23, who made his NHL debut.
Montreal won Monday's battle between third-string goalies. Lindgren, a Minnesota native playing just his second NHL game and his first this year, made 31 saves.
The 23-year-old undrafted rookie beat the Carolina Hurricanes 4-2 in his NHL debut on April 7, 2016, and earned his second victory four days shy of the one-year anniversary of his milestone.
Reto Berra, Florida's 30-year-old third-string goalie, took the loss, allowing three goals and making 27 saves.
Montreal opened the scoring. With 13:12 expired in the first period, Shaw scored on a one-time from the slot, taking a nice pass from Alex Galchenyuk.
Florida tied the score 1-1 with 8:57 expired in the second period. Marchessault took a pass from Sgarbossa and held onto the puck until he got a clear shot, sliding the puck under Lindgren's left pad.
The Panthers had a chance to go ahead later in the period after Montreal committed two penalties in close succession -- Shaw for delay of game after firing the puck over the glass and Phillip Danault for hooking Jaromir Jagr.
Florida, though, could not convert, especially when it had a two-man advantage for 68 seconds. Montreal cleared the puck twice, blocked two shots and got a bit lucky when Jonathan Huberdeau missed the net from point-blank range.
Montreal took advantage of Florida's failing as Lehkonen beat Berra with a wicked shot high to the glove side put the Canadiens up 2-1.
Florida nearly scored a short-handed goal with 9:57 left in the third period. Panthers center Vincent Trocheck, who has 22 goals but hasn't scored since Feb. 28, hit the right post, spoiling a three-on-one rush.
After that, Montreal regained control of the game.
NOTES: Montreal D Shea Weber (lower body) sat out for the first time this season and may miss at least one more game. D Nikita Nesterov, who had been out since Feb. 27 due to a lower-body injury, returned to the lineup, replacing Weber. ... Montreal G Carey Price, who is tied for fourth in the NHL with a .924 save percentage, was rested. He is 38-18-4 this season with a 2.20 goals-against average. ... Florida was without its best defenseman, Aaron Ekblad (neck); its best forward, Aleksander Barkov (upper body); its best goalie, Roberto Luongo (lower body); and its backup goalie, James Reimer (concussion). Of the four, only Reimer is likely to return this season. ... Ex-Panthers G Al Montoya, who backs up Price in Montreal, has missed the past four games due to a lower-body injury. ... Montreal's four-game trip ends on Wednesday with a game at the Buffalo Sabres. ... Florida plays host to the St. Louis Blues on Thursday.