The Montreal Canadiens weren't sharp in their last game yet picked up two points. The Florida Panthers were solid in their most recent contest and came away with nothing.
The Canadiens try to win their third straight when they visit the Panthers on Thursday night.
In sixth place in the Eastern Conference and three points back of fifth-place Washington, Montreal (34-23-7) opened a three-game trip Tuesday with a 3-1 victory over Atlanta. The Canadiens were outshot 41-23 but stopped all five power-play chances.
"That was really good, to win a game when you didn't play very well," forward Michael Cammalleri(notes) said.
However, Carey Price(notes) was outstanding, turning away 40 shots after missing Saturday's 4-3 win over Carolina with the flu.
"It was busy out there, but it wasn't a lot of hard shots," said Price, who extended his career high with his 29th victory. "We kept most of the shots outside. It's not hard to stop 40 shots when they're from the outside."
The Panthers (26-30-7) had plenty of chances in their last game, but the result was a 2-1 loss at Carolina on Tuesday.
"I give ourselves an 'A' for effort," coach Peter DeBoer said after his club outshot the Hurricanes 42-22. "With (former Panthers) Bryan Allen(notes) and Cory Stillman(notes) over there (following recent trades) we knew they'd come out quickly and they did. But I thought our guys showed a lot of resiliency and probably deserved a better fate."
Florida has lost two straight and 11 of 15 and has scored six goals in its last five contests.
The Panthers, who have not converted any of their 12 power-play opportunities in the last four games, are 0 for 12 with the man advantage in dropping two of three matchups with the Canadiens in 2010-11.
Montreal has killed all nine penalties in its last two games after yielding seven power-play goals in its previous three.
In the teams' last meeting in Florida, James Wisniewski(notes) scored his second goal in overtime to lift Montreal to a 3-2 victory Dec. 31. The Canadiens have won five of seven on the road in this matchup.
Florida has lost three straight and eight of nine at BankAtlantic Center, with seven of those defeats coming by one goal.
Tomas Vokoun(notes) has been in net for each game against Montreal this season, but he could be backing up Scott Clemmensen(notes) on Thursday after losing eight of his last 11 starts.
Clemmensen, who made 20 saves Tuesday, is 3-0-0 with a 1.33 goals-against average versus Montreal. He last faced the Canadiens on Jan. 21, 2009, while with New Jersey.
In his only matchup with Florida this season, Price made 28 saves in a 3-1 home loss Oct. 30.
Alex Auld(notes) turned away 53 of 57 shots to lead Montreal to wins in the last two meetings against the Panthers.
Team Comparison
Andrei Markov D, Josh Gorges D, Jaroslav Spacek D, Mathieu Darche LW
Byron Bitz RW, Mark Cullen C, Shawn Matthias C, Evgeny Dadonov RW, Rostislav Olesz LW, Ryan Carter C, Jack Skille RW
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