“That’s insane,” forward Carter Werhoge said. “He’s a very good defender, so he’s defensively good with such a good stick. If anyone does that, it’s definitely gas.”
Putting the damper at the Panthers’ comeback, Christian Dovolak increased Montreal’s lead in the third season, when a shot from David Sabbard went 3-1 at 8:11.
The Panthers got a late power play, pulling out Bobrovsky with a 6-4 advantage, leaving around three minutes in regulation. Coming to the clutch in Montreal, Montembe took Verhaege with his gloves on a shot from the slot to save goals.
This was one of Montembeault’s six saves in the final three minutes.
“They were really a good team and they tried to send a message,” Verhaeghe said. “I think it’s just up to us to be mentally prepared for every game and think it’s a playoff game for every game.”
They said that
“We don’t want to tell you how we thought we played because we wanted to respect Montreal’s efforts. They played hard and fast. We can’t rate how good it is because we don’t know if it has anything to do with how we played. I think we own it. Our play, it was on us. We have to play pretty well before we can evaluate what the other teams did to us.” – Paul Maurice in Tonight’s Defeat
“We need to know that they’re coming out hot and being more prepared. I think that’s a good lesson.” – Mackie Samoskevich in a strong first period in Montreal
“He’s a really good goalkeeper. He had to get more traffic in front of him, he had to get more traffic. He’s going to save some from time to time, and that’s to endure and fill them up.” – Carter Werhage on Sam Montembe’s performance
Cat statistics
– The Panthers had 24 shots blocked.
-Aleksander Barkov won the team’s best 10 showdowns.
– Seth Jones scored a team-high five hits.
-Jesper Boqvist skated in his 300th NHL game.
– The Panthers led 47-41 on a 5-5 shot attempt.
What’s next?
There is no rest for these cats.
The Panthers will be closed in a row and drop the pack with New York Islanders at UBS Arena on Sunday at 7:30pm.
Click here to find a place to watch the game in South Florida.
