Panthers score team-record 7 goals in 1st, top Canadiens 9-5

By James On Mar 17, 2023

SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Carter Verhaeghe scored twice in the first period on seven goals, a Florida franchise record, as the Panthers beat the Montreal Canadiens 9-5 Thursday.

Florida scored six goals in the second period against Boston on April 5, 2000. Against Montreal, the Panthers came close to tying the franchise record for goals in a game set in 1997, going without scoring in the third period.

The teams combined for 10 first period goals to tie the NHL record for goals in a first period. They were also the fastest first 10 goals in an NHL game, with Florida getting the 10th goal at 13:18.

“I’ve never seen anything like that. In 25 years, I’ve never seen that many goals,” Florida coach Paul Maurice said. “There were more goals than chances and that’s a rarity. All I can say is that it affected the game.” both teams play and I don’t think anything on video is helpful for the hockey game. It was almost Twilight Zone – all the pucks went in.”

Aaron Ekblad also scored twice for Florida, helping the Panthers move within three points of the final wild-card berth. They are 4-0-1 in their last five.

Ekblad, Colin White, Gustav Forsling, Ryan Lomberg and Sam Reinhart also scored for Florida as the Panthers led 7-3 after one. Florida bolstered their lead with second-half goals from Ekblad and Matthew Tkachuk.

Montreal defenseman Mike Matheson scored 16 seconds and Florida led 2-1 just over three minutes later.

“If you were 30 minutes late, you missed it,” Tkachuk said. “I hope people haven’t gotten stuck in traffic. We definitely have some things to fix, but a win is a win. … We scored a lot of goals, so we did a lot of good things too.”

Michael Pezzetta, Rem Pitlick, Anthony Richard and Rafael Harvey-Pinard also scored for Montreal.

Sergei Bobrovsky made 24 saves for Florida.

Montreal replaced goaltender Sam Montembeault after Florida scored three goals on their first six shots of the game. Jake Allen came on and ended up giving up six goals on 17 shots before Montreal brought Montembeault back to finish the game.

“Great win and one of the wildest games I’ve ever been a part of,” Verhaeghe said. “We found a way and it turned out to be a good one.”

NOTES: Florida is the first NHL team to score seven first-period goals since the Hartford Whalers on Oct. 19, 1985. … Florida sent G Alex Lyon to its AHL team in Charlotte to play this weekend. The Panthers brought in Mack Guzda to back up Bobrovsky.

UNTIL NEXT TIME

Canadiens: At Tampa Bay on Saturday night.

Panthers: Host New Jersey on Saturday night.