Montreal Canadiens vs. Florida Panthers

Musings and In-Game Scribbles

My English is as good as yours, I just write these in a stream-of-consciousness mode that I insist excuses me from small things like rules of grammar or general etiquette. Let’s call it conversational English, hopped up on beans. You know what kind of beans (no, Carl Mellesmoen, not the magic ones).

Montreal Canadiens (1-5-1) host Florida Panthers (4-3)

Monday, October 24, 2011

Game Eight (score posted following scribbles)

Missed it? Musings capture the game in writing. A written transcript typed during the game, posted and edited about thirty minutes afterward.  Based on the RDS French telecast of the Montreal Canadiens game, Musings take about 20 minutes to read. More detailed than an article, fresher than a looping highlight and good with morning coffee. Or late-night chocolate.  A unique way to re-experience the game.

click here to expand post (it looks prettier)

 

Reseau maestro Pierre Houde interviews Ed Jovanovski.  What a contrast of character.

Jovanovski effects a mature presence.  He’s wearing a bright red (burning orange?) Florida Panther hoodie.  And a baseball hat.  Cap.

Pierre is surely aware of the history.  Houde’s mouth and lower cheeks tell a story.  As does this particular pattern of glance-aways.

The limbic system.  Always interesting.

The team is off to their worst start in about seventy years.

Should have, should have, should have.  Many want Jacques gone.  Jacques Martin, Montreal’s head coach since the summer of 2009, is a mild-mannered, defensive-minded coach.  He left his post as GM of the Florida Panthers to take the distinctive head post with Montreal.

Should have.  Should he?  Should they? I don’t know.

I would have preferred that (Roman) Hamrlik and (Jeff) Halpern stayed.  And (Radek) Bonk.  If you must know.

Should the team fire Martin, it’s unlikely they would re-hire Guy Carbonneau.  But.

Yes, this is how I think.  Remember when the team re-hired Ruel ten years after firing him?  Well, he was interim. But hey.

Montreal defenceman Jaroslav Spacek is back in the lineup tonight.  Experience.  And if he’s on the third pairing, his turnover fever should be low.

The rugged Travis Moen leads the team in goals.  He’s a plugger.

Pernell Karl Subban’s pregame energy is in his ankles, in his poofed-out cheeks and his herky-heft thighs.  Bounce, bounce.

Newcomer Peter Budaj will start in net(s) for Montreal.  First start.  He’s 29.  From Slovakia.

Jacob Markstrom for Florida.  Greg Kimmerly and Tim Peel are the refs.

First Period

Eller.  Wins the draw.  Budaj brooms it from his left post.  Montreal is off.  To the net immediately.  Moen nearly jams it in on a two-man incursion.

Lots of space.  Florida is slow or slow to start.  Surly Erik Cole is on with gangly Max Pacioretty and the slick centre David Desharnais.

Error on the blue by Montreal’s Raphael Diaz and here’s a two-on-one for Florida.  Canadiens’ sticks are back quickly to fudge it up.

Seconds later, Pacioretty was knocked forward, stumbling at the Florida crease and the Canadiens go to a power-play.  Panthers are at 76.2 on the PK.  Unhealthy.

First thirty seconds are negated.

Static on the blue.  The teams charge and exchange.  In and out.

One minute in the advantage.

Another puck lost.

Long puck.  Budaj gets to it first.  Janitor nudge.  And they set up.  Yannick Weber on the left point, Diaz on the right.

Across to 61. Blast.  In.  Cole on the crease lip.  Off Pacioretty’s skate just a few feet up from Cole.

Montreal 1, Florida 0

They’re all must-wins at this point.

Early goal hasn’t meant much for outcomes this season.

Home team follows with resolve on two subsequent shifts.

Panthers are closing to the pucks more quickly.  Matt Bradley with a long stick in the lane as he exits to his bench area.

Mobile, savvy Brian Campbell, the former Buffalo Sabre, is on low with Jason Garrison for Florida.  They combine for an exit.  Then they have to reset.

Five gone.

Tomas Plekanec’ line for Montreal.

Josh Gorges and Subban.  Montreal ice.  Mike Weaver with a long slow wrister (no, not that Mike Weaver).

Budaj bats it away with a blocker.  No traffic.

Long Montreal puck.  Weaver deep in his ice.  Long pass.  Off-target.  Weaver has it again.  One pass.  Another to Mike Santorelli down the right side.  Wind-up and shot.  No.

Six gone.

Lines change.  Both teams are in disarray for three, four seconds.  Montreal ice.  One long shot.  Another from the other end of the V.  And it’s up and out of play.

Peter Budaj is the first Slovak goalie in the history of the NHL.

Cole.  Desharnais.  Pacioretty.

They’re at the net.  First on the boards.  And one puck hits from a sharp cannon-angle.  Desharnais can’t pot it.  Then a dig-puck backhand by Cole sends fear.  Markstrom is up to it.  Cole is able to stand, in the wind and back to the cutlasses, reliant on his husk and grim stance.  Nobody can knock him down.  This time.

Faceoffs.  Second one after a long Florida puck.

Former Hartford Whaler, the respected Kevin Dineen is head coach of this very Canadian team.  Florida’s organizational formula, apt in 1984, is one of the reasons the team has no modern success.

Six of the seven defencemen listed on the Florida website are Canadian.  They’re a team that relies on emotion more than system or speed.  But in today’s NHL, speed is something even Florida has taken care to cull.  Brian Campbell is an example of such.

He controls a possession from the right point and one shot gets through.  Stays out.

Broken stick pieces litter the ice as we see the replay.  Darche, stickless, following Campbell’s S shapes on the point.

Ten minutes gone.  Or left.

Florida controls off the draw.  Cole loses the puck on the left hash.  He has it again after some digging by the defensive.

Three-second possession.

Cole is slow at the end of his shifts, slower than most in the same situation.  His backchecking is inconsistent and he relies on his stick more than his body to get that type of work done.  Is he too old to change his style?  He’ll be 33 on November 6th.

This is also Finn Petteri Nokelainen’s first game with the Canadiens, acquired in a trade Sunday with the Phoenix Coyotes.  Forward prospect Brock Trotter and a seventh-rounder in return.

Subban’s pass is too long for Kostitsyn.  Turnover.  Panthers enter offside.

Kris Versteeg.  Yelling like a good Alberta boy. At the ref, this time.  What unlovely hockey pedigree.

Sure there are a handful of good programs in that province.  But the tone and attitude are all wrong.  Too much bantha.  Not enough cloak.

Montreal power-play.

Desharnais, Pacioretty, Cole with Weber and Diaz underneath.

Good control.  Diaz, again, shows quickness in keeping a puck in play.  Great awareness of the angles.

Now he has it on the right point.  Waits.  Looks.  No.

It’s back to him.  One-timer.  Snuffed.

Faceoff.

Gionta, Plekanec and Cammalleri.   Darche, too.

One big chance.  And a second shot.

A second big chance.  Markstrom is low left.  Then bounding right and falling across the living room to block this vase of flowers.  There’s water everywhere and the flowers stay out.

More pressure from the draw.  And it’s out after the twelfth Montreal shot of this period.  Five for Florida.

Five minutes left.

Santorelli takes one in stride.   Through the middle, enough time for a quick shot between the defencemen.  Parried.  High.  But still in play.

Florida re-enters.  Right side.  Funneled into the side-boards.  And a roughing call on the whistle.  Against Montreal.

Florida power-play.

Josh Gorges is in the box.

Plekanec and Cammalleri; the first kill pair.

Plekanec nearly takes the puck away from Ellerby on the forecheck.

Florida entry.  Puck is lost.  Moving slowly.  It shows up behind Budaj.  Trickled off a turnover, a boot, a blade and Fleischmann will get credit.

Through the five hole.

It’s Fleischmann’s second goal of the season.   Czech Republic.  Koprivnice.

Florida 1, Montreal 1

Desharnais line.

Nokelainen wears #15, by the way.  Réjean Houle’s old number.  And Halpern’s.

Three and a half.

Cole to the net on a cross-ice pass entering the zone.  Drives.  To the forehand.  Loses balance.  Mugged by Kulikov, mitt to the face.  Markstrom keeps it out.

Markstrom looks tall.  And so he is.  Listed at six foot six.  Gavle, Sweden.

Stoppage and another.

Eller line.

Moen on the left wing.  Spacek on the left point.  Kostitsyn with wood and fire.  Puck falls into the net well after the whistle.  Screaming.  Siren goes off.  And is muffled.

Dropped.  Moen poked in. It was under Markstrom’s seat.  Wobbling.   Cold.

No goal.

Two and a half.

We resume.

Weber and Spacek share the puck to move it out.

Plekanec.  Searching low.  Spacek to the cage.  Comes up with the puck with a stick and a skate.  Sends it along the boards.

Gionta goes to the net.  Veers into the corner to support Plekanec.  Cammalleri circles near the slot.

Florida covers and it’s out.

Ninety seconds.  Puck is off the safety netting in Montreal ice.

Centre ice faceoff.

Jovo is on the ice.  If we’re being nice.

I can be nice.  Sixty seconds.

Kulikov’s pass hits a stick and leaves the surface.

Centre ice.

Gill and Diaz.  Shovel but chase.  Florida runs them like mice.  Finally it’s lost.

Kostitsyn in alone.  Three back.  Inspired work.  Pulls and prods.  Can’t get the opening he wants.  Looses it in wrister form.  Deflection in the slot.  Goes after it.  Ends his shift.

Period ends seconds later.

Montreal led on shots 14-9.

First Intermission
Florida 1, Montreal 1

The Florida Panthers play in a town called Sunrise.  The initial name was Sunset but retirees, the target residents, didn’t like it.  Broward County.

Sunset.  What’s wrong with that?  Got something against death?

Vincent Damphousse discusses Erik Cole.  Cole had 21 points in his first 31 games last season.  Two goals in his first twelve games.  Slow starter is the suggestion.  Eleven minutes in his last game.  Six million dollar contract.  No time on the power-play.

Brunet thinks he should have gotten the ice time.

You have to earn it.  I’m with Martin on this one.  I don’t care who you are.  There is a way to play the game, a Montreal way to play it, and if you don’t, your ice time will reflect that.  Tanguay had to learn.  So did Lang.  So do the rest.

Backcheck.  Work hard.  Play within the system.  Cole will adjust, too.  He’s not infantile.  Like some.  No names.

Ok.  Pierre Larouche.

I’m sure he’s all grown up nowadays.

Yes, I’m engaging in that “nice” thing again.

Second Period
Montreal 1, Florida 1

The Pacioretty goal is actually a Cole goal we are told.

Panther Stephen Weiss wins the draw.  Own zone, Florida, two red jerseys pressing.

Moen, Lars Eller and Andrei Kostitsyn move it in.  Pushed out.

Eller carries it back in.  Right side.  One man on him.  Turns, a full 360.  Backhand.  Covered on the post by Markstrom.

Colour man Marc Denis adds that Eller is much more comfortable this season.  His increased time on ice over the past three seasons is shown.  He’s up to about 14 minutes a game.  First of those three years was with St. Louis Blues.  Eller is the man that came in return for Jaroslav Halak.  Still dearly missed if not brought up often.

Cole, Pacioretty and Desharnais.  Mild shift.

Subban.  Keeps.  Carries.  Around a man.  Nifty.  Raises, shoots, big goal rebound but no goal.  Markstrom got across.  Arms to the ribs and a shot in the midsection.  Fell like a kindly cowboy.  Puck where it needed to be.  Outside his net.

Lines change.

Nokelainen across the Florida blue.  Crowded as he braked and turned his back to the play.

Sense of urgency is climbing.  More risks.  Diaz advances to the circle top to Markstrom’s left.  Action swirls around the oval.  To the left point, sudden.  Plekanec’ pass and the shot.  Markstrom keeps it out.

Cole and Pacioretty work the left boards after winning the draw.

Desharnais at the net.  Cole on the hash.  Cross-ice pass.  Subban on the left. point.  Cole wandering up by the exit point, next to Subban.  Still learning his teammates’ habits.  At the early end of that long process.  Subban kept in.  Cole was covering in case the puck left the blue.  Trust?

Shot.  No.  Faceoff to Markstrom’s left.

Six gone.

Garrison nearly gives it away in his slot.  Medium pass for Kopetsky.  Kopetsky reaches back and prevents the interception.

Plekanec.  Three on three with Cammalleri down the right and Gionta on the left.  Florida coverage is good.  Puck stays in Florida ice.

Cammalleri on his scooter.  One arm and pedaling.  Pass bounces off.

Long Florida puck.  Houde says that the offensive zone commitment is beginning yield fruit.

Desharnais line.  Pacioretty and Cole.

Diaz moves up to keep it going.  Falls.  Gill is over to cover.  Down the left.  One dig. Another teammate.  And the Canadiens are out.  And Diaz is open in the slot.  Sunset stick gets low to deflect the pass.

Quick whistle saves the Panthers on the next incursion.

Markstrom dropped the sharp-angle shot and the puck was tantalizing.  But dead.

Faceoff to his right.

Around his net.  And to the deep corner, left (to Budaj’s right.)  Whistled for icing.

Florida starts hitting.  Marcel Goc with a solid mid-ice bump.

Florida gets aggressive around the net after a long shot.  Cleared up.

Faceoff to Budaj’s left.

Subban is often a target for teams.  One reason is his superior physical presence.  He’s a catalyst and if he’s hit often enough, the team’s difference-making pivot might (only might) be less effective.

Subban gives an unfriendly arm-shove Kulikov’s way after another whistle.

Some Dineen footage.  Game seven?  Remember?  Remember.

Nine.  Kostitsyn goes to the boards stronger than most forwards.   Ba-bump and still standing.

Quick shot of Craig Ramsay.  Still bald.  He’s an assistant in Florida after losing his job in Atlanta.  After they moved and appointed a new staff.  Coaches need unionization.

Eight and a half.

Budaj is low and nearly a winter snowman.  No wiping.  On his back, the puck is under him.  Spider-man leg spread and then the see-none flop-drop Mummy.

Eller line.  Gorges and Subban low.

Versteeg on the right.  Sends it across.

Subban called for holding the stick.  Looks like a missed call.  Forward exploited and sold the play.  Subban says “wow” in the penalty box.  That old bald guy who sits there shares a smile with him.

It feels like Saturday, somehow.

Florida power-play.  Upshall, Goc and Kopecky are the first wave.

Good control.  Slow but stubborn.  Good passes.

Second entry.  Weiss.  Gets free.  Budaj dives low to stop it, skates into the net.

Would Price have had it?

More pressure.

Subban is out.  Whams a man to the ice.  At a Montreal hash.  Budaj’s right.

Someone isn’t going to like that.  But that’s his style.

Another whistle.  Crowd loves the hit, hates the call.  Another Montreal penalty?

No.

Replay shows Budaj rolling like a hot dog, splayed legs like pogo sticks.  Quick and heated, he’s a microwave goalie.

Nokelainen.  Wins it.  But it’s lost along the blue.  Out of Florida’s zone it goes.

Five on five but the Panthers manage a pass to the blue and then across.  Canadiens are behind the play.

Cole.  Offwing and accelerating.  Stopped.  Stays in play.  But a slashing ends the surge.  Pacioretty.  Yapping about the call.  Stick broke.  They always call those.

The bald guy isn’t smiling this time.  Pacioretty is leaning forward in the box, stick between his legs, mouth open, in his own world of anxious pain.

First thirty seconds of the power-play is much slower for Florida.

Three.  Ninety seconds in the penalty.

Gill low.  Gorges with him.  Cammalleri and Plekanec.  The strongest PK unit.  And they stay on for a long chunk of it.

Again.  Must-win game.  Martin’s job.  It isn’t fair.  But.

They kill the penalty without giving up a quality shot.

Long puck chase into Florida ice.  Eller takes a stick to the back of the legs while digging.  Doesn’t retaliate.  Good discipline.

Pacioretty leaves for the training room.   Injury check.

Marc Denis is at ice level.  Says that Pacioretty was injured on that last ice chase into the corner.

Captain Brian Gionta discusses something with the ref.

Trainer Pierre Gervais looks on, inscrutable.

Thirty seconds.

Florida dumps it in to get their line change.

Long lobber.  Markstrom traps it.

Not much more.

One can watch for what one expects.  Or watch for what unfolds.  It takes more energy to do the latter.  Some see what they want to see.

A great number of Canadians (ask around) want to believe that Sid Crosby is the best player in the world.  He ain’t.

Period ends.

Florida led on shots 14-13.  Canadiens lead 27-23, overall.

More of the same.  Good performances not reflected on the scoreboard.

What a profession.

Second Intermission
Florida 1, Montreal 1

Alain and the big desk.  Vincent Damphousse.  And the cactus.

Three PK highlights.  Great skater, great strength.  Sees a lot.  Good passer.  And above all, an initiator.  Future of the game.  He’s one of them.

Like him or not. And I’ve long since grown to like him.  His anointed days are done.  He went to the wrong team.  And he’s ours now.

But though Subban lost his Ontario crown, Price still has his. Though he’s from BC, the young goaltender still gets the accolades and overrating reserved for the Calgarys, the Torontos, the Vancouvers of the league.  Media protectionism still benefits the young star.

He’s very good and may finish as a great.  So his overrating is certainly a subtle thing.  But he is excused even when he performs poorly.  For example, Puck Daddy recently stated that Price is not a part of the Canadiens’ losing ways to start this season.  Puck Daddy hasn’t seen all the games, clearly.

The three-softie game comes to mind.  As does Price’s under 0.900 save percentage.  And other struggles.  But there are many more factors to this team’s low-win start.  And the team has certainly played better than their record.

Too bad.  Generalizations ache.  The Saskatchewan Roughriders of 1970 come to mind.

But it’s a long season and the Canadiens have too much experience to succumb.

Hartnell has two goals tonight against Toronto.  And Jagr has his first of the season.  Big number 68 is back in the NHL after a three-year absence.  As a Philadelphia Flyer (insert orange pitchfork).  They lead TO, 3-2 tonight.

Jagr’s best season was a 62 goal, 87 assist 82-game performance with Pittsburgh Penguins in 1995-96.  Gretzky called him the best player in the league on 99’s retirement day.

Rookie NHLer Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is proving my buddy Jack Todd wrong.  Seven points in his first seven games.  Yes, I’m surprised.  The newest of the anointed Oilers.  I haven’t seen him play yet.

Third Period
Montreal 1, Florida 1

Five shots on goal for Cole.  Cole, goal, Cole, goal, Cole, goal.

How tall before you’re no longer a dwarf?

Early eagle-pad stop by Budaj.

Andreas Engqvist had one shot on goal in his seven games, says Denis.  Lots of potential, says Houde.  They agree that the lack of offensive production and low percentage on faceoffs were reasons for Engqvist’s demotion.  He and Aaron Palushaj were both sent down to Hamilton (and I feel mild guilt about being pleased at not having to type out Engqvist’s name tonight and probably for a very long time … it’s the G Q V combo that mangles me).

And how much does the team miss recently injured Scott Gomez?  The immediate thought is “not at all”.  But the little things.  And the other little things; intangibles, personality, and so forth.  I wonder.  The first set of little things might include home faceoff percentage.  Weak, I know.

Three elapsed.

Long Florida puck is whistled.

Moen.  Eller.  Kostitsyn.  Moen rewarded yet again.

Weiss.  Such an arrogant player.  Some guys just never realise.  Skates like a show-horse Mustang.  Twelve-goal guy with a fifty-goal gait.  Or is that gate.

Perimeter action.  Long point shot.  Gets in.  Upshall batted it down.  I’ve always admired that skill.  Great hand-eye coordination needed for it.

Video judges will check the replay.  Should be legal.

Florida 2, Montreal 1

Goal is good.

Fort McMurray, Alberta native Scottie Upshall’s first goal.

Just over five elapsed.

Subban.  Loop and turn.  Has it, deking.  From centre ice.  Looking to create.  Crosses the line, passes offside for Eller.

Subban pats his chest and takes responsibility for the error.

He’s the most athletic player on the ice tonight.  Once he gets his shot on target, he will attract most of the opposition’s attention in game-planning.

Cole montage.  Maybe he’s just not as fast as I thought he was.  He’s certainly a dangerous scorer.  And always around.  Or so I recall from his Carolina days.

Gionta.  Approaches the net.  Markstrom drops. The puck is around the net and gone.

Like obverse magic.

Canadiens are losing this game.  Someone should be firing this team up (or something).  But it’s not there.

Eller takes the draw against Weiss and wins it to Budaj’s right.

Outlet pass.  Off a stick at mid-ice and lost.  Eller loses it to Weiss.  Takes it away from the next guy.  Kostitsyn on the off-wing.  Markstrom closes low and we hear it bap out.

Twelve left.

Eller on the boards and backhanding for Kostitsyn.

Shift ends with a turnover.

Cole from the right side.  Slows.  Wrister.  No.

He reminds me of Kovalev in his stride and search.  He appears to have similar upper body strength.  Despite the big weight difference between the two.  Unless Cole is listed as significantly lighter than he is.

I finally talk to my Samsung.  It stays quiet.  But the speakers.  The game flickers and a rending of the hockey universe is slow and motion, pixel and red terror.  And then the moment is gone.  And all that’s left is the team.  One line and one shift.

The booing starts.

Where’s the intensity.

Cole entry.  Left side pass.  Darche whango!  Puck goes up high.  Bodies fall.  But no sticks reply.

Lines change as Budaj declines stopping the game and the action rolls into Florida ice.

Panthers begin to recede.  Montreal’s will grows.  Crowd’s impatience is noted by Houde.

Puck goes up and out of play.

Intensity can be measured by what players do when they don’t have the puck.  How they chase.  How committed their backchecking is.  With the puck, it’s harder.  Offensive play relies more on a mix of relaxation, creativity and caution.

Go the net? Sure.  But there are other ways to score and when defenders clog the lanes, you have to know those other ways.  They’re about finding spaces, seeing the diagonals and maneuvering in the perimeter.

Eight and eleven.

Montreal blue.  One Hab upended.  NO call.  Nor should there have been.  But booing.

Matthias behind his net.  Leaves it for Jovanovski.  Weaver.  Centre ice for Kopetsky.  Too crowded.

Weaver has it again.  Mid-ice.  Long puck.  Icing.

Pacioretty is done.  Shoulder guesses Denis.

Another long Florida puck.  Cole turnover deep.  Or failed conversion in the low slot.  He’s not a puck control guy, is he.

Seven.

Weber.  Desharnais.  Intercepted.  Weber retrieves.  Left for Diaz.

Cammalleri fakes the take and Diaz sends it down the left.  Gionta.  Right side.  Crack and boof.  Markstrom.

Florida response; two on two.  The pass.  The shot and it’s high.  And men sail through the net.  One home and one visitor.  Everybody and the puck are alright.

Six.

Lobber into the high glass behind Markstrom.

Moen.  Shot.  Save.  Another Moen stopped.  Both were low-threat shots.

Five and a half.

Subban takes a man down and I feel a jolt of hockey fear.  But no call.

Five.

Thrust.  Cottoned.

Bradley takes the opportunity to bang Desharnais to the ice.  Stittsville.  Menacing hit.

Four and twenty.

Long Panther puck.  Again.

Faceoff to Budaj’s left.

Panthers win it.

Goc over the blue on the right.  Wrister.  Easy turn-away.

Long Montreal puck now.  More booing.

Subban, eyes widening, one hand on his hip, says ‘what?’

Gionta, Plekanec and Gorges.  Subban.  Cammalleri.   Hiding up top.  Grim tiding line.

One lobber.  No shots.

Eller line.

Three.

I invent a few new words.  Ugly ones.

Eller.  Moen.  Eller searching and moving backwards.

PK.  Creative license.  Past the dot.  The end line.  It mounts.  Swirl.  All to the net.  And.  And.  Sticks and Markstrom low.  One jab.  There’s room.  All standing.  Another jab.  Surely that one.  And a third?  And what?  And.  What?  No?

How did that not go in?

Darche the jams.  Eller joined.  Kostitsyn, too.

I shake my head.

Two minutes.

Down a goal.  Again.

Plekanec.

Gionta keeps it alive on a failed pass to the slot.  But it’s out about six seconds later.

Versteeg. Has his man on the wing.  It’s done.  No, Plekanec with the stick across the slot.

One oh seven. Budaj leaves.

Desharnais.  Six attackers.  Garrison will go.  Smiles and talks it over.  He bowled Desharnais over.  On the border; took his man down with the stick and body.  I guess that’s tripping.

Timeout.

Dineen looks like Kevin Lowe somehow.  Demeanour.

Martin is sharing some personal feelings.

Cunneyworth is chopping his hands with each syllable.  Dineen seems comfortable with what’s being said on his team’s bench.  Ramsay puts a paternal arm around a player while making a point to another.  We resume.  Six on four.

Ok.

Subban.  Blast.  And the rebound is jittering.  And here it is.  And no, here is Markstrom.  Sturdy.  Heart-breaking.

Gionta with a grimace in response following the play.

Nice shot from Subban.  Right on the pads.  Markstrom

Gionta whacked Markstrom’s pads.  Not liked.  Fair enough.

Subban stays.  Cammalleri.  A glove behind the net.  Hab.  Unnoticed.

Cole.  Diaz.

They find the glove.  Plekanec’ glove.

It’s in.  It’s out.  Jovo nearly scores on the blast.  Thirteen.  Cammalleri loses it on entry.  Four.

Puck is out.

Long.  No icing.  Subban bangs it around the boards.

Booing.

Panthers congratulate Markstrom.

Will there be major changes?

Don’t count on it.

Yet.

Final Score
Florida Panthers 2
Montreal Canadiens 1

HDS Stars: Jacob Markstrom, Mike Weaver, Tomas Fleischmann
RDS Stars: Jacob Markstrom, Peter Budaj, Dmitry Kulikov

Related posts:

1. Montreal Canadiens vs. Florida Panthers
2. Montreal Canadiens vs. Philadelphia Flyers
3. Montreal Canadiens vs. Boston Bruins
4. Montreal Canadiens vs. Los Angeles Kings
5. Montreal Canadiens vs. Boston Bruins
6. Montreal Canadiens vs. Boston Bruins