A disastrous third period sinks the Canadiens

After a five-game road trip in which the Canadiens collected six points out of a possible 10, the team was back in front of its fans tonight against the Panthers.

Here is Martin St-Louis’ lineup for the occasion:

Habs lineup vs Florida at 7 PM No changes other than Primeau in nets pic.twitter.com/Vz2iZ1L3Ur

– HFTV (@HFTVSports) November 30, 2023

And Paul Maurice’s:

The first period was scoreless, but Josh Anderson had a golden opportunity to score his first goal of the season.

He appeared to break away from Sergei Bobrovsky, but was tripped.

However, the officials did not award a penalty shot, much to the dismay of Anderson and the fans.

But you know what? I’m almost glad he didn’t get a penalty shot…

Imagine if Josh Anderson couldn’t score on a penalty shot though pic.twitter.com/ksCxU7Lca3

– /r/Habs (@HabsOnReddit) December 1, 2023

Ironically, 17 lost his spot on the first wave of the power play. What’s more, Mike Matheson cancelled the power play with a penalty of his own.

In the second period, both goaltenders were once again good. However, Cayden Primeau conceded once on a perfect shot from Aleksander Barkov.

After 40 minutes of play, it was 1-0 to the visitors.

Florida started the third period strong.

In the eighth second, Sam Bennett foiled Primeau with another low shot from the glove side.

And seconds later, Alex Newhook fell strangely on the net. He left toward the locker room and wasn’t able to put any weight on his left leg.

Not another injury…

Then it all fell apart.

First, Evan Rodrigues tripled Florida’s lead.

Then Carter Verhaeghe scored a fourth unanswered goal.

All four goals were scored from the glove side. Have we found Primeau’s weak spot?

Power play goal for Florida!

Scored by Carter Verhaeghe with 14:11 remaining in the 3rd period.

Assisted by Aaron Ekblad and Evan Rodrigues.

Montreal: 0
Florida: 4#FLAvsMTL #GoHabsGo #TimeToHunt pic.twitter.com/Vr34vAAo3I

– NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) December 1, 2023

Johnathan Kovacevic may have scored a goal, but it was inconsequential. Still, it was his fourth goal in seven games. Gotta do it.

Sergei Bobrovsky looked weak on the sequence.

#Habs Johnathan Kovacevic’s shot can’t be gloved by goalie and results to goal vs #Panthers

Assists: Caufield, Evans#GoHabsGo #NHL #Hockey @RocketSports pic.twitter.com/t050aezclI

– Chris G (@ChrisHabs360) December 1, 2023

And with less than a minute left in the game, Josh Anderson threw down the gloves against a tough guy on the other side, Jonah Gadjovich.

You can tell he’s tired, that Josh…

Final score: 5-1 Florida, who added a late goal.

Martin St-Louis’ team returns to action on Saturday, when they host Patrick Kane’s Red Wings.

Extension

– Hard times in Montreal.

– What a player!

Owen Beck takes matters into his own hands

The @CanadiensMTL prospect with a textbook snipe!@PetesOHLhockey | #GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/vdIwQdDp2s

– Ontario Hockey League (@OHLHockey) December 1, 2023