Music: {allcanada} PANTHERS (34-26-14) at CANADIENS (46-21-8)

Friday, March 27, 2015

{allcanada} PANTHERS (34-26-14) at CANADIENS (46-21-8)

Jennifer Lopez / Jennifer Love Hewitt / Johnny Depp

Saturday, March 28, 2015

7:00 PM ET

PANTHERS (34-26-14) at CANADIENS (46-21-8)

TV: TVA, CITY, FS-F

Season series: Montreal Canadiens backup goalie Dustin Tokarski made 41 saves in a 3-2 win against the Florida Panthers on March 17. The two Atlantic Division teams split their first two games prior to that. Each of those games was decided by a shootout, with Florida's Dave Bolland scoring the winner against Carey Price in a 3-2 shootout win at Bell Centre on Feb. 19.

Panthers team scope: Goalie Roberto Luongo will start when Florida continues its five-game road trip with its first of three games in four nights. The Panthers (82 points) gained precious ground Thursday in their bid to claim a berth in the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Forward Brandon Pirri scored twice in the Panthers' 4-1 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Air Canada Centre. The victory drew Florida within three points of the Ottawa Senators for the second wild card spot into the playoffs into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference. "We're in playoff mode," Luongo told the Miami Herald. "Every game is so crucial. We believe in our team, and we're going to keep playing away and see what happens." Pirri, who reached 20 goals for the first time, has 17 goals in his past 21 games, including seven goals in his past seven.

Canadiens team scope: Price is expected to start for the Canadiens, who did not practice Friday. Montreal (100 points) remains just short of clinching a berth in the playoffs following its 5-2 loss at the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday. Right wing Brendan Gallagher, who has three goals against the Panthers this season, said that the Canadiens' power play couldn't shake off its rust after it went 0-for-4 with seven shots against Winnipeg. "As of late we haven't been getting too many power-play chances a night, so early on we wanted to bear down," Gallagher told the team's website after the game. "We had a lot of chances, and then we started having trouble getting into the zone, getting set up, and it limits your time in the offensive zone to create chances. The power play has to be better, we know that. The power play could have changed the outcome (Thursday). We had enough chances. We felt our game plan was fine; we just didn't execute it."

Team Stats