Prior to the loss, Florida had been surging, winning four of its previous five games.
"You're going to win some and lose some," Panthers coach Bob Boughner said. "You don't mind losing a game if you play well, you didn't get the bounce, or you run up against a hot goaltender. But you hate beating yourself, and that's what we did last night.
"Before that we'd won four out of five and we were playing some of our best hockey, probably our best hockey of the year… I thought we were playing well. I'm hoping that's just a throwaway and we come back tonight in a back-to-back against Philly and we play well."
Putting that loss behind them, the Panthers (15-15-6) will look for a strong rebound performance when they wrap up a back-to-back set with a crucial matchup against the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday night at BB&T Center. In the second game of back-to-backs this year, Florida is 4-0-2.
"It's always great to have a quick chance at redemption, and we need it tonight," said Aaron Ekblad, who leads Florida's defensemen with seven goals. "It's another huge game on our schedule for us. It's a team we've always kind of been battling with for a wild card position."
In order to get back on track, Ekblad said the Panthers need to simplify their game.
"I think the simple game needs to be brought back into our situation," he said. "I think when we we're playing our best is when we're playing fast, doing the things Boogey outlines for us to do. I think we failed at that a few times last night, which ultimately led to them getting more zone time and scoring."
The Panthers are currently averaging the third-most shots on goal in the NHL, but finished with just 26 against the Canadiens, which was tied for their third-fewest in a game this season. In a must-win game against the Flyers, Keith Yandle says putting more pucks on net will be key.
"We know that they're a high-skilled team," said Yandle, who leads all Panthers defenseman in points (32) and assists (26). "We know that they can put up some serious numbers, so we know we've got to be really good defensively, do a good job on their top lines. I don't think we got as many shots on net as we wanted last night, so tonight we've got to do that."
The Flyers (15-16-5) have won three of their last five games, but are coming off a 6-5 overtime loss in Tampa on Thursday. Claude Giroux leads the team in points (44) and assists (31), while Sean Couturier has the most goals with 14. Florida is 1-0-1 against Philadelphia this season. "Tonight, we've just got be ready to go right away," Yandle said.
