Jagr, Barkov lift first-place Panthers over Habs
The Florida Panthers enjoyed their stay in first place in the Atlantic Division for about 24 hours before the Montreal Canadiens took it back with a shootout win Monday night over the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Panthers weren’t about to let the Habs leave Florida as the top dog in the division when the two met at the BB&T Center on Tuesday night, though.
In front of a packed house, with an opportunity to tie the Panthers’ franchise record for longest winning streak and first place in the division on the line, Florida did what it had to do to come away with two points. Once again, the 3-1 win was paced by the team’s top line, which has been among the best in the league for a good portion of the season.
The eventual winner was scored by 43-year-old Jaromir Jagr just 1:16 into the second period off of a sick feed from Jonathan Huberdeau, who assisted on two of Florida’s goals against the team he grew up cheering for as a kid.
Here’s a look at Jagr’s goal, which was his 11th of the season and 733rd of his career. He’s now eight goals away from tying Brett Hull for third on the NHL’s all-time goal scoring list.
.@68Jagr, so hot right now. #MTLvsFLA https://t.co/6JbSWSjItw
— NHL (@NHL) December 30, 2015
That may have been one of The Legend’s prettiest goals of the season, but that vision and setup from Huberdeau were on point.
Aleksander Barkov scored a pair of goals, including an especially pretty one to make it 3-1 in the third.
Barkov scores, 3-1 Panthers pic.twitter.com/7diIoK90z9
— Stephanie (@myregularface) December 30, 2015
It was his second consecutive two-goal game as the 20-year-old Finn improved his point total to 23 in 27 games. Despite his youth, he just may be the best player the Panthers have at their disposal this season.
The Panthers have now won seven straight games, tying the franchise record. On top of that, the South Florida club has won 13 of 16. They started December 15 points behind the Habs, but now have spent the past few days trading first place them. This has been stunning.
Meanwhile, the Canadiens continue searching for answers. Had they just found a way to hang on without the injured Carey Price over the past month, they probably wouldn’t be in this position right now, but everything has fallen apart. They lost 11 of their 14 games in December to lose their grip on the division. Additionally, over that span, they’ve scored more than two goals in a game only twice. It has been a shocking turn for a club that got off to one of the best starts to a season in NHL history back in October.
No one would have called the Atlantic as being over in November when the Habs had a 10-point cushion between them and the rest of the division. That said, it’s still incredibly hard to believe that the Habs couldn’t even manage to get out of December with the division lead.
Montreal’s next game will be against the Boston Bruins at the 2016 NHL Winter Classic on New Year’s Day which, beyond the spectacle, has suddenly become an especially important divisional game.
Jaromir Jagr and the Panthers are celebrating their quick return to first place. (USATSI)
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