Panthers edge Canadiens, 4-3

In Montreal, Spencer Knight made 28 saves and the Florida Panthers downed the Canadiens, 4-3, on Thursday night.“[Knight] was really good,” Panthers coach Andrew Brunette said. “He maybe wasn’t tested too much early, then we kind of hung him out to dry a little bit, got a little bit sleepy in some of our coverages. And they worked really hard, they battled. They played a playoff-type game, they had some offensive guys, they had some looks. We were a little sleepy at times, but credit to them, too, for playing as hard as they did.”

Nick Suzuki scored for the Canadiens in the first period to give them a 1-0 lead.

Alexander Barkov tied the game, 1-1, 36 after the Habs had taken the lead.

“That’s a good team we played against tonight and I think we battled really well,” Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis said. “It was a good opportunity, and I know we didn’t get the result we wanted, but it was a fun game to play and a fun game to coach.”

Florida moved to 43-14-6.

Mason Marchment put Florida ahead, 2-1, in the middle frame, but Jake Evans got the Canadiens even, 2-2.

“I think tonight we showed that we can play with any team in the league now,” the Canadiens’ Joel Edmundson. “A couple of months ago I don’t think we could have said that, but right now, the way we’re playing I think we’ll give any team a run for their money. It’s been fun the past month or so and we’ve just got to keep it going the last 18 games.”

Anthony Duclair scored before the end of the frame for a 3-2 lead to the Panthers.

Sam Reinhart scored what proved to be the game-winner in the third period, his score made it 4-2 for the Panthers.

Montreal’s Paul Byron scored in the 17th minute of the third for the 4-3 final.

Montreal dropped to 17-37-10.

“This place has been a really key place in my career, kind of where I took a big jump, started a young family when I was here,” Florida;s Ben Chiarot said. “It’s an important place for me, and I’ll always be thankful for all the people here in Montreal giving me a warm ovation like they did, it feels good.

“It’s been a real whirlwind, probably the last 24 hours. My head’s spinning, to be honest, meeting a new team, playing back in the Bell Centre, being on the ice with my old teammates, it’s a weird feeling, but I’m happy with the way it went and happy to move on to the next game now that it’s over with.”

Jake Allen made 38 saves in the Habs loss.