The win enabled the Canadiens to move into the first wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference with 45 points. The Canadiens had the good start they wanted, jumping to a 2-0 lead before the game was three minutes old. The Canadiens could have been up 3-0, because Jesperi Kotkaniemi had a good look between the two goals, but his shot went off the post to the left of Luongo. But the good start was wasted because the Canadiens went more than 10 minutes without a shot after taking the lead and the Panthers roared back to tie the game. After Henrik Borgstrom scored from the slot, the Panthers got the bounce as Denis Malgin tied the score at 13:53.

Source: National Post December 29, 2018 03:01 UTC