Selke Contenders Meet, Florida Panthers Host Montreal Canadiens

FORT LAUDERDALE — The Panthers have outscored the Montreal Canadiens 9-2 in two wins this season, but Florida knows what it is going up against.

The young Canadiens have become a more structured team and harder to play against in the process.

With a chance to become the second team in the NHL to hit 40 wins on Thursday night, the Panthers are not taking Montreal lightly.

The Panthers have won 10 of the past 11 against the Canadiens including the past six.

In Florida’s 10 wins against Montreal, it is outscoring the Canadiens 56-23.

The Panthers are heavy betting favorites (-325 on the money line) tonight.

“We’ve had some wild games against this team and I don’t think the scores in the first two have anything to do with how the game was played,” Florida coach Paul Maurice said. “They were both very tight games, which was a difference from last year.

“They’ve tightened their game up quite a bit and we want to make sure that we’re playing smart, we want to make sure that we’re making really good decisions with the puck.”

Montreal captain Nick Suzuki has arguably been the ringleader in the team’s shift to a harder, cleaner defensive style of game.

Suzuki has developed into a top-tier Selke candidate for the Canadiens, consistently making smart plays and big plays in his own end while ranking near the top in most defensive analytics.

“I would say that he has a whole lot of [Sasha] Barkov in him,” Maurice said.

“Especially, when you’re in a Canadian market and you are a skilled offensive player, there’s pressure to produce and in that pressure to produce, especially if you are on a developing team, there are placed for you to value the offensive side of the game more than the defensive side of the game. I don’t think he’s done that.

“He is a real honest, hard player. He starts on face-offs, he battles, he’s under pucks and he’ll get into holes when he gets the chance. Barkov would be the same kind of player where, at the end of the year, i you will probably be able to say both men have left offense on the table, and appropriately so.”

Like Barkov, Suzuki has still managed to put up solid offensive numbers with that same mindset.

Suzuki has 23 goals and 56 points in 59 games this season and 12 goals and 24 points in his past 23 games.

He is a player Barkov and the Panthers need to key in on if they want to walk away with two points.

The defensive side of he game is something Florida has taken pride in lately, too.

They have allowed two or fewer goals in 14 consecutive games, which is tied for the longest streak of such a team has had all season.

The Panthers are 12-2-0 in that stretch.

“We’ve been working a lot on it and that’s been the biggest thing.” Barkov said. “Defense is our biggest thing. We want to be really good defensively and offense will come from that. If we defend well, we’re going to have our chances in the offensive zone.”

GAME NOTES

Anthony Stolarz will play in his 100th game Thursday as he gets the start; Former Florida goalie Sam Montembeault starts for the Canadiens.

— Jonah Gadjovich will miss Thursday’s game with a “minor injury,” per Maurice.

Will Lockwood will take his place in the lineup.