Barkov, who had missed the previous three games with a knee injury, scored a career hat-trick.
“I feel like I have a lot of good vibes there,” Barkov said. “Playing with good players, they will find me. That’s it.”
Video: MTL @ FLA: Tkachuk scores PPG in the second round
Matthew Tkachuk Scored two goals and an assist, and Carter Verhaghe He had a goal and an assist for the Panthers (16-16-4), who lost three straight. Sergei Bobrovsky Made 25 exports.
Arber Xhekaj He had a goal and an assist, and Josh Anderson The Canadiens’ record is (15-18-3), who have lost four straight and have been 1-6-1 in their last eight games. Sam Montembolt Completed 34 export operations.
“I love the fight we had tonight, especially in the first one [period] “It wasn’t perfect, but we’re fighting,” said Montreal coach Martin St. Louis.
Florida was 3 for 6 on the power play; Montreal was 2 for 4. The Canadiens allowed six goals in their last 12 penalties.
“Our Labor Party is in trouble right now,” said St. Louis. “For a large part of the first season, we were doing very well. Now we have really good strength training and we’re a little bit behind. You have to give them credit, and for us, as little growing pains as it gets, you can’t just buy these actors.”
Video: Barkov scores a hat-trick in the first half
Barkov gave the Panthers a 1-0 lead with 2:37 remaining in the first period when Gustav ForslingA point shot went to Parkov’s center, then made it 2-0 at 11:50 with a wrist shot from the left facing circle on the power play.
Xhekaj made it 2-1 at 14:14 with a powerful shot from the point.
Barkov completed his hat-trick at 15:22 when he caught a moving puck in front of the net and lifted a backhand over Montembolt.
“He’s one of the best players in the league, so if you give a player like him space and time, he’ll push you,” said Xhekaj. “That’s what he did tonight.”
Video: MTL @ FLA: Verhaeghe scores in the third period
Anderson made it 3-2 at 19:13 after a rebound in the final minute of a 5-3 power play.
Tkachuk extended the lead to 4-2 at 6:22 of the second period with another power play goal when he was knocked down. Brandon Montourpunch.
Verhaeghe made it 5-2 at 4:14 of the third period with a close range shot off Montembelt’s right shoulder.
“We know what we have to do and we want to do it again,” Verhaghe said. “We want to play the same way, win or lose. We want to continue our game and try to build it up. It’s a good game tonight, but we have to keep going here.”
Video: MTL @ FLA: Tkachuk shoots SHG in the third period
Tkachuk gave the Panthers a 6-2 lead at 7:24 on the power play. He got lost Scored at 9:31 for the final 7-2.
“We played exactly the way we wanted to,” said Panthers captain Barkov. “At the moment it’s just a matter of continuing to play like this and continuing to build every game.”
Notes: Barkov became the sixth player in Panthers history to score three goals in one period and only the second skater with the same number in the first half, joining Steven Reinbrecht (October 30, 2009). His power play goals made him Florida’s all-time leader in that category with 67, surpassing Scott Mellanby. … Montour had three assists. … Panthers defenses Aaron Akblad (plus 3 in 23:24 ice time) and Radko Judah (Four strikes at 6:07) Everybody’s back from injury. …Florida striker Anton Levchi He played 9:41 in his NHL debut. … Canadian striker Brendan Gallagher He returned after missing 13 games due to a lower body injury. He had three shots on goal and 17 penalty minutes at 1:41 PM. … Montreal cannon Cayden’s ignorance And he left the ice late in the third period with an apparent leg injury after entangling Barkov behind the net. St. Louis did not have an update.
