The Montreal Canadiens welcomed the Florida Panthers Saturday night at the Bell Centre for the first of three duels in three weeks. The Stanley Cup champions came to town without elite defenseman Aaron Eklad, ace scorer and agitator Matthew Tkachuk, and newly acquired, longtime Boston Bruins pest Brad Marchand. Even without those players, the Cats remain a force to be reckoned with and the Canadiens passed the test with flying colours. 

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A Much Better Start

Compared with the Seattle game, this was night and day, effort level-wise in the first frame. Against the Kraken, Jakub Dobes had to fend for himself, with the Canadiens giving up 15 shots in the first 20 minutes. On Saturday night, everybody was skating hard and trying to be first on the puck at both ends of the ice.

Montreal was also much brighter with the puck, not giving it away too much. They only committed two turnovers in the first, and it was through Jayden Struble and Joshua Roy. The game appears to be going a wee bit too fast for Roy. He found himself on the receiving end of a turnover in the slot, but he had two Panthers on him before he could launch his shot. The same is true when deciding whom to pass to; he tends to run out of room and time, which rarely leads to good decisions.

The Canadiens were able to maintain a high level of play all the way through the 60 minutes, only giving Florida nine giveaways, while the Cats cough up 25. Even though the Panthers had an 11-2 edge in shots in the final frame, Montreal played a smart game, controlling the puck as much as they could and committing very few mistakes. 

The way Martin St-Louis’ men were able to kill Dvorak penalties at six on four with so little time left in the game was clear evidence that this team is maturing nicely. In Seattle, they failed that same test and they learned from it. 

Attacking As A Five-Men Unit

While the Canadiens had their best scoring opportunities on the power play on Saturday night, they seemed to consciously try to generate more attack involving the five players on the ice.

Whether it was Mike Matheson, Lane Hutson, or Arber Xhekaj, the forwards used the blueliners more. Perhaps it’s just because the chemistry’s improving, but it was refreshing to see Xhekaj get a couple of clear looks on the net in the same sequence in the second frame.

The Canadiens were also looking for deflections, and it worked like a charm on Christian Dvorak’s goal, the 100th of his career which came off a David Savard shot deflection.

The Benefits Far Outweigh The Downsides

Patrik Laine may not be as complete a player as some would like, but the chatter about a buyout is downright ridiculous. This is a player who cost next to nothing to acquire and who, granted, has a big contract, but it’s not like the Canadiens need the cap space.

Whichever way you look at it, the benefits of having Laine in the lineup far outweigh the downsides. Some would like to make you believe he’s bad for the team culture, but considering how Martin St-Louis handles him, that’s a baseless claim. When the big Finn isn’t pulling his weight on the defensive side of the puck, he plays less; that’s as simple as that.

He may not like it, but the coach holds firm: give me what I want, and I’ll give you what you want. Tonight, Laine gave him what he wanted, given what he had to say about the second line:

Newie’s line played well, Patty had a lot of minutes tonight, and it was deserved. He was then asked if he felt it was one of Laine’s best games, and the reply immediately came: “Yes, that’s what we’re looking for.”

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For a second game in a row Laine set the tone with a timely power play goal and that’s invaluable. A working power play can be so important to a team’s momentum and it truly is for the Canadiens right now. 

La deuxième tentative est la bonne!

Second time’s a charm!
#GoHabsGopic.twitter.com/FC31zY3xqW

— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) March 15, 2025

The atmosphere was simply magical in the Bell Centre, especially in the third frame; the wave went around and around the rink for such a long time; it was impressive. By the end of it, I was wondering if the Panthers’ players were seasick, to be honest. As for the coach, he loved it:

From start to finish, it was one of the best games we’ve played since I’ve been here. The fans gave us a treat in the third, and we want to give our all to them. It was a great experience for everyone who was in the building tonight. I had a lot of fun in the third, with how we behaved, the atmosphere, and everything else. We must go try to earn moments like these.

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After this much deserved 3-1 win over the Stanley Cup champions, the Canadiens will enjoy a day off on Sunday, but the coach will still be watching some hockey. He’s headed to Clarkson to see his son Lucas and his Harvard side take on the Knights in game three of the ECAC quarterfinals.

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