Huberdeau and Florida take on Montreal

Posted December 31, 2021 6:00 am

By The Associated Press

Montreal Canadiens (7-22-4, eighth in the Atlantic) vs. Florida Panthers (20-7-4, second in the Atlantic)

Sunrise, Florida; Saturday, 1 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Jonathan Huberdeau leads Florida into a matchup against Montreal. He currently ranks fifth in the league with 38 points, scoring 11 goals and totaling 27 assists.

The Panthers have gone 5-1-2 against division opponents. Florida averages 10.0 penalty minutes per game, the eighth-most in the league. Ryan Lomberg leads the team serving 46 total minutes.

The Canadiens are 2-5-2 against the rest of their division. Montreal scores 2.1 goals per game, the least in the Eastern Conference. Nicholas Suzuki leads the team with six total goals.

The teams face off Saturday for the first time this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Huberdeau leads the Panthers with 27 assists and has 38 points this season. Sam Reinhart has five goals over the last 10 games for Florida.

Suzuki has 18 total points while scoring six goals and totaling 12 assists for the Canadiens. Cole Caufield has four assists over the last 10 games for Montreal.

LAST 10 GAMES: Panthers: 6-3-1, averaging 3.9 goals, 7.3 assists, 4.5 penalties and 13.2 penalty minutes while giving up 3.7 goals per game with an .879 save percentage.

Canadiens: 1-7-2, averaging 1.6 goals, 2.7 assists, 3.8 penalties and 8.7 penalty minutes while allowing 3.4 goals per game with a .904 save percentage.

INJURIES: Panthers: Olli Juolevi: out (health protocols), Markus Nutivaara: out (undisclosed), Carter Verhaeghe: day to day (health protocols), Ryan Lomberg: out (health and safety protocols), Sam Bennett: day to day (health protocols), Brandon Montour: day to day (health protocols), Radko Gudas: day to day (health protocols).

Canadiens: Louie Belpedio: out (covid-19), Gianni Fairbrother: out (covid-19), Mike Hoffman: out (health protocols), Cayden Primeau: out (covid-19), Artturi Lehkonen: out (health and safety protocols), Christian Dvorak: out (lower-body).

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

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