In Sunrise, the Panthers’ Eetu Luostarinen hit for a double on Saturday night, in a 4-1 win over the visiting Montreal Canadiens. 
The Panthers improved to 22-12-2.
“Things were not easy for us, and Montreal played us hard defensively,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. “[Luostarinen] was able to drive through it. I thought we had a couple of guys who were able to play as hard as they did [Friday] night.”
Anthony Stolarz made 18 saves in the win.
The two teams were tied, 1-1, entering the third period, where the Panthers hit for three goals.
Luostarinen hit for his first of the night at 4:05 in the middle frame to give the Panthers a 1-0 lead.
Cole Caufield was the lone striker for the Canadiens, he scored off the power play at 7:01 to tie the game, 1-1.at
Montreal dropped to 15-15-5 off their second straight loss.
“It is hard to play 60 minutes of good hockey against a good team,” Montreal coach Martin St. Louis said. “They are going to make you struggle sometimes, but I liked that my team tied up going into the third, but you have to be careful of your actions all over the ice.”
Luostarinen hit for his double, and the game-winner, at 7:34 of the third period, the strike was on a power play.
“Obviously, it is nice being on our power play,” Luostarinen said. “I am trying to take advantage of it.”
Sam Bennett gave the Panthers a bit of breathing room when he scored at 15:26 for a 3-1 advantage to the Panthers.
Carter Verhaeghe added an empty-net marker at 17:13 for the 4-1 final count.
Jake Allen made 22 saves in the loss.
“They have had our number the past couple of years,” Allen said. “That’s just the way it is sometimes. You just have to find a way to break that curse, especially when a team is in your division and you play them four times. Those are big points. We were right there.”
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