Final
Habs battle Panthers in Sunrise
Mar 3, 2011 - 4:44 PM (Sports Network) - While the Panthers continue to fall back in the Eastern Conference's playoff race, the Canadiens are keeping the pressure on in the race for the Northeast Division crown.Montreal takes aim at a third straight victory this evening in a matchup with Florida at BankAtlantic Center.
A 3-1 victory over the Thrashers on Tuesday kept the Canadiens six points back of the first-place Bruins in the division. Winning three of their last four games also has the Habs sixth overall in the East.
Carey Price stood tall with 40 saves in Tuesday's game and is tied for second in the league with 29 victories, while Max Pacioretty had a goal and an assist. James Wisniewski and Brian Gionta also scored.
"We're all confident in our guys here," said Price, who missed Montreal's last game due to flu-like symptoms. "We all have a good chemistry in here. We all really care for each other in here and I think that's really important."
The Canadiens held Atlanta to just a goal despite playing a seventh straight game without Jaroslav Spacek, who the club learned on Tuesday will miss another 4-to-6 weeks due to a knee injury that will require surgery.
Spacek joins fellow blueliners Andrei Markov and Josh Gorges on the sidelines, with Montreal recently adding Brent Sopel and Paul Mara to its hobbled defensive group.
Florida, meanwhile, continues to fall further back on the playoff race as Tuesday's 2-1 setback to Carolina increased the Panthers' deficit behind the eighth-place Hurricanes to 10 points. Florida hasn't made the postseason since 2000.
Scott Clemmensen made 20 saves and Stephen Weiss had the lone goal for the Panthers, who have lost two straight and four of five. They are just 5-10-5 since a three-game win streak from Jan. 11-15.
"We played well and we should be proud of ourselves -- I'm very proud of the way we competed tonight," said Clemmensen. "We didn't give up and we fought the entire game."
Tuesday's meeting took place just one day after Florida dealt defenseman Bryan Allen to Carolina for winger Sergei Samsonov.
The Panthers will try to get back on track at BankAtlantic Center, but have lost three straight and eight of their last nine there.
The Canadiens have won two straight in this series since a loss to the Panthers on Oct. 30 and have taken 10 of the past 13 meetings overall. Their 3-2 overtime win in Sunrise on Dec. 31 gave the Habs a victory in five of their last seven at Florida.
Price has started just once this year versus the Panthers, taking the home loss in October to fall to 2-3-0 with a 2.80 goals-against average.
Clemmensen is 3-0-0 with a 1.33 GAA in his career versus the Habs, but hasn't faced them this year. Tomas Vokoun has gotten the call in the three previous meetings and is 5-8-3 with a tie and 2.50 GAA lifetime against them.
- MONTREAL: 4
FLORIDA: 0
Final
Mar 3 9:55 PM - MONTREAL: 3
FLORIDA: 0
End of 2nd
Mar 3 9:06 PM - MONTREAL: 2
FLORIDA: 0
End of 1st
Mar 3 8:11 PM - Montreal Goal - Andrei Kostitsyn, from Travis Moen at 8:54.
Canadiens 2, Panthers 0 1st - 11:06Mar 3 7:53 PM - MONTREAL: 0
FLORIDA: 0
1st Period - 20:00
Mar 3 7:38 PM
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