Panthers score 5 straight in 2nd, defeat Canadiens

MONTREAL -- Matthew Tkachuk scored two of five consecutive goals for the Florida Panthers in the second period in a 6-2 win against the Montreal Canadiens at Bell Centre on Thursday.

Florida scored four times on the power play during the run, becoming the first NHL team to do so in one period this season.
"We had good patience on our power play tonight because it was a big adjustment from the last time we played them," Panthers coach Paul Maurice said.
Sam Reinhart had a goal and two assists, Sam Bennett had a goal and an assist, and Aleksander Barkov had two assists for Florida (22-20-5), which played its third game in four days and is 3-0-1 in its past four games.
Alex Lyon made 23 saves in his Panthers debut in relief of Sergei Bobrovsky, who did not face a shot on goal before he left at 2:01 of the first period because of a lower-body injury.
"The guys played great," Lyon said. "I think you always appreciate when you feel like they're giving a little of that extra five percent in those types of situations, so I've got to give a lot of credit to them."

Rem Pitlick had a goal and an assist for the Canadiens (19-24-3), who had won consecutive games for the first time since Nov. 23-25, and three of their previous four.
"We took two too-many-men penalties; there is no excuse for that," Montreal coach Martin St. Louis said. "That's a lack of alertness by the players for those penalties. After the first period, we were managing the game, and in the second we shot ourselves in the foot."
Sam Montembeault made 28 saves on 33 shots in the first two periods in his sixth straight start. Cayden Primeau relieved him to begin the third period and made six saves on seven shots in his season debut.
Reinhart gave Florida a 1-0 lead at 6:30 of the second when he scored from the slot on a rebound of Barkov's shot off Montembeault's right pad.

Montreal was penalized after an unsuccessful coach's challenge determined that Tkachuk had not committed goalie interference on the play.
Bennett put the Panthers up 2-0 at 8:27 when he scored on the ensuing power play, and Tkachuk made it 3-0 with Florida's third straight power-play goal at 14:58.
Givani Smith pushed it to 4-0 at 16:03 with his first goal of the season before Tkachuk scored his second power-play goal, Florida's fourth of the period, at 19:17 for a 5-0 lead.
"I don't think we had easy legs today and then I thought our game was like our power play," Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. "We had to scratch and claw to get it going, and then it was really good."

Florida's went 3-for-6 on the power play against Montreal in a 7-2 win at home Dec. 29.
"They changed the penalty kill between the two games that we played because we put three up on them that night," Maurice said. "And I would say they were quite a bit more passive in the first game, and then they went to a very aggressive kill. And so, our power play didn't look good almost until it scored. And that, it's by design by the PK team.
"They put an awful lot of pressure on you, knocking pucks down and breaking the puck out more that we want to. But we were then able to kind of stay in and make the right play to the net and get the shot tipped and the seam play and things happened."
Pitlick made it 5-1 at 2:12 of the third period when he scored on a wrist shot from a sharp angle.
Josh Anderson cut it to 5-2 at 8:06 on a one-timer from the left side before Ryan Lomberg scored at 9:11 for the 6-2 final.
"We didn't like our second period at all, and being down that many, you've got to do something about it," Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki said. "And the guys did a good job of being physical, getting in their face. We got two goals there pretty quick and it's good we battled back, but it was just not a good enough second period by us, and we know we can't take that many penalties."
NOTES:The Panthers also tied their record for most power-play goals in a period, set Dec. 9, 1998, when Viktor Kozlov scored two of four first-period power-play goals in a 6-5 win against the Ottawa Senators. ... Florida forward Eric Staal left the game at 18:21 of the first with a lower-body injury after he was hit by Montreal defenseman Mike Matheson. Maurice said Staal and Bobrovsky would be reevaluated Friday. … Patrick Chevrefils got dressed as an emergency backup goalie for the Panthers.