Montreal Canadiens finish 2-0 versus Florida Panthers in home-and-home series

The Montreal Canadiens welcomed the Florida Panthers to the Bell Centre tonight after the combatants locked horns on Sunday afternoon.

Nikko Mikkola set the stage for what should be a chippy affair between both sides when they reacquaint on Tuesday. In the game's dying seconds, Mikkola slapped the puck down the ice toward David Savard, in a move that had the entire Canadiens roster (five guys on the ice, and the entire bench) wanting a piece of the big Panthers defenseman.

Shooting themselves in the foot, at a time when the Habs need to collect as many wins as possible just isn't the most logical approach. There is a time and a place, and discipline will reign superior, but if a certain Arber Xhekaj were to slot into the lineup, that would be all right, yeah?

Xhekaj has gotten the short end of the deployment stick of late, with Martin St. Louis opting to limit his ice time, and then healthy scratch him for Sunday's matchup. Should he draw into the lineup, I expect that he will challenge Mikkola, or any other Panther that stands in his way. But there are bigger fish to fry.

Lane Hutson and Nick Suzuki were the offensive catalysts for Montreal on Sunday - each recording three points - and they will be leaned on for more on Tuesday. Hutson has 59 points on the season, just five shy of Chris Chelios Canadiens' rookie defenseman scoring record (64). Suzuki (76) is one shy of establishing a new career high in points heading into the back half of a home-and-home series with the Panthers.

Birthday boy Juraj Slafkovsky factored in with two points, bringing his season totals to 17-29-46 in 70 games played. Sitting just four points shy of his previous career best in 2023-24 (50 points), the big Slovakian will establish a new career high, should he find a way to register four additional points over the Canadiens' final nine games.

The results were something to marvel at

Hutson followed up his performance against the Panthers on Friday night of three assists, with another three.

This time he assisted on the game tying goal with 8.4 seconds on the clock, for his second assist of the night. The Panthers were in total shock, and frankly stunned by the second wildcard Canadiens. And Hutson, and Suzuki weren't done with their nights with a tie game.

Far from it, in fact. They connected on a three-way play with Cole Caufield flying around the zone after receiving a Hutson pass, that he neatly drop-passed to Suzuki. The captain went around the net wide and wrapped a beautiful shot past Vitek Vanecek to seal the Habs' win.

With the Bell Centre buzzing, Suzuki made a chilling goal celebration, with his passion and excitement screaming out of his lungs. What a finish to the game, and the Habs are feeling pretty hot, with the Boston Bruins next on the schedule. I expect it should be a fantastic game, and Hutson will some way be involved.

With a combined 11 points in two games, Hutson has 62 points, including 57 assists, three shy of Larry Murphy. Suzuki is well on his way to his first point-per-game season, with 79 (25 goals, and 54 assists) through 74 games.

It's hard to pick one assist, but the play between Hutson, Caufield and Suzuki that sealed the win over the Panthers in overtime is a pretty important one. The next one is the most important though.

The CH are flying, and it feels so good to say that, and with their recent two wins, the confidence is at an all-time high.