SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) -- The Florida Panthers had problems holding leads during their six-game winless streak. A rally on Friday night ended the skid.
Viktor Kozlov, Matt Cullen and Juraj Kolnik scored third-period
goals to help the Panthers beat Montreal 4-2 for their first
victory since Nov. 24.
Olli Jokinen also scored for the Panthers, 0-2-3-1 during their
skid. The Panthers blew leads in four of those games, including
three advantages of two goals or more.
"I think we've really improved as a team," Cullen said.
"Tonight was a real good job of sticking to our plan and not
changing things after two periods. We finally got the bounces."
Richard Zednik and Saku Koivu scored first-period goals to give
Montreal a 2-0 lead.
The Canadiens had been 8-0 this season when leading after the
first period.
"It's tough to explain," Koivu said. "The effort, for some
reason, wasn't there. After getting a 2-0 lead, maybe we thought it
was going to be an easy night."
The Canadiens lost for only the second time in eight games.
Montreal, which beat the Rangers on Wednesday, has not won
consecutive games since their sixth and seventh games of the
season.
"If we want to move up in the standings, we're going to have to
start winning consecutive games," Canadiens coach Claude Julien
said.
Florida set a season high with 49 shots and allowed 31. Montreal
native Roberto Luongo made 29 saves for the Panthers, and Jose
Theodore stopped 45 shots.
Cullen got the winner at 6:15 of the third, during a delayed
Montreal penalty, when his wrist shot deflected in off Canadiens
defenseman Francis Bouillon.
Kolnik provided some insurance at 9:24 when he rebounded
Cullen's back-hander on net from a sharp angle.
"It's about time," said Kolnik, who scored his first goal in
six games. "The last couple of games I've been trying to put the
puck on the net. I only got one shot tonight but it went in."
Kozlov tied it 2-2 at 2:42 of the third period, three seconds
into a Florida power play. After Montreal defenseman Stephane
Quintal lost control of the puck to the side of the net, Kozlov
beat Theodore with a wrist shot.
"We deserved this game and I think everybody in the dressing
room felt we deserved this game," Florida coach Rick Dudley said.
"But I just said between periods, `We will win this game if we do
exactly what we've been doing' and that's what they did."
Jokinen started the Florida rally at 5:00 of the second when he
grabbed a rebound and shot the puck into an open net.
"We got a couple mistakes and they scored," Jokinen said. "We
kept it up after the first period and never looked back. We saw
some of the best hockey this team has played in a while in this
building."
Zednik opened the scoring 6:07 in when he took Mike Ribeiro's
pass from behind the net and slipped a shot through Luongo's pads.
Koivu made it 2-0 at 10:36 when he scored just four seconds into
a Montreal power play. With Lyle Odelein off for cross-checking,
Koivu rebounded Andrei Markov's slap shot from the point past
Luongo.
"It's unacceptable," Theodore said. "We grab a 2-0 lead and I
don't know if the players thought it was going to be 7 or 8-0 and
guys were going to have a couple of points. That's not our style.
We didn't play with discipline."
Each team came close to scoring in the fourth minute of the
game. Florida right wing Marcus Nilson's slap shot deflected off
Bouillon's stick and went off the crossbar. Twenty seconds later,
Montreal's Chad Kilger took a shot from the front of the net that
hit the post to the right of Luongo.
"It's not only disappointing, it's unacceptable," Julien
said.
Game Notes: Montreal D Patrice Brisebois sat out because of a groin
injury sustained against the Rangers. ... Montreal's four-game
unbeaten streak on the road (3-0-1) was snapped. ... Florida LW
Kristian Huselius, a healthy scratch the previous two games,
returned to the lineup. He replaced LW Niklas Hagman, who was a
healthy scratch after going scoreless in 10 games. ... Montreal RW
Donald Audette returned after missing nine games because of a
shoulder injury.