In the past 15 games, Bennett has lit the lamp nine times.
“He took advantage of his opportunities when he had them,” Rodriguez said. “He was good.”
Bennett, who was looking for a hat trick, was denied a 2-on-1 by a big save from Montembeau, who made 25 saves for the Canadiens.
After drawing Bobrovskiy to create a 6-5 advantage, Juraj Slavkovskiy found an empty net to extend Montreal’s lead to 5-2 at 17:59. With 50 points left in regulation, Texier scored for a hat trick, clinching a 6-2 victory for the Canadiens and improving their record to 25 wins, 13 losses, and 6 draws.
“They’re a fast team,” Bennett said. “They used their speed well. They did a good job of getting the puck and bodies to the net and making it difficult for us. It wasn’t our best effort by a mile. Yeah, they used their speed tonight.”
they said it
“We were slow with the puck. We have a good group of players. They want to do the right thing. They don’t want to make mistakes. But I thought puck speed was a real problem for us. We got a little loose in the second one.” – Paul Maurice
“They’re a good team. They played the right way. I think they made plays when they had to make plays and didn’t make plays when they didn’t. I think they just played better than us.” – Evan Rodriguez
cat statistics
– Sam Bennett recorded his second multi-goal game of the season.
– According to NaturalStatTrick.com, the Panthers led in expected goals at 5-on-5 by 3.11 to 1.78.
– Macky Samoskevic had five shots on goal.
– Sam Reinhart had a team-high 24 minutes, 16 seconds of ice time.
– Anton Randell hit 13 of 19 (68.4%) from the faceoff circle.
What’s next?
The road trip continues.
With one final stop in Canada remaining, the Panthers will take on the Ottawa Senators at the Canadian Tire Center on Saturday at 7pm ET.
Click here to find where to watch in South Florida.
