MONTREAL — Paul Byron had two goals and Brendan Gallagher scored and added three assists as the Montreal Canadiens defeated the visiting Florida Panthers 6-2 on Thursday to clinch a playoff spot with five games remaining in their regular season.
Tomas Plekanec, Max Pacioretty and Phillip Danault also scored for Montreal (44-24-9). Carey Price made 29 saves for his 36th victory of the season.
The Canadiens will play in the post-season for the fourth time in the past five years, and for the eighth time in the last decade.
Reilly Smith and Michael Matheson scored for the Panthers (33-33-11). Reto Berra, replacing injured goalies James Reimer (upper body) and Roberto Luongo (lower body), stopped 26-of-32 shots in defeat.
The Canadiens had a resounding first period and that’s all they would need to beat the Panthers.
Plekanec’s line with Byron and Gallagher scored three times in a 5:55 span in the first as the Canadiens quickly jumped to an insurmountable 3-0 lead.
Byron got the first at 7:24, capitalizing on a failed clearance by Florida to net his 21st goal of the season.
Plekanec doubled Montreal’s lead at 10:04, beating Berra from the slot on a centring pass from Gallagher.
The home side made it 3-0 just three minutes after that. Byron got his second of the game, deflecting a sharp pass by Nathan Beaulieu past Berra.
In the third, a lucky bounce led to a 2-on-1 for Alexander Radulov and Pacioretty, who scored his team-leading 35th goal at 3:52.
Gallagher made it 5-2 when he deflected Brandon Davidson’s shot from the point at 12:55 of the third. It’s the first four-point game of Gallagher’s career.
Down 3-0, the visitors had a golden opportunity to get back in the game when Pacioretty and Shea Weber took back-to-back penalties but the Panthers failed to convert on the 5-on-3 that lasted 1:22.
Florida finished 0 for 3 with the extra skater.
Smith scored for Florida at 10:41 of the second, beating Price five-hole with a low wrister from the face-off circle. Matheson added another for the Panthers at 8:35 of the third.
Danault added Montreal’s sixth at 16:49.
Notes: Goalie Charlie Lindgren, 23, was recalled from the St. John’s IceCaps on Wednesday and was Price’s backup. … Florida’s Jason Demers played his 500th NHL game. … Montreal Expos Hall of Famer Tim Raines dropped the ceremonial first puck.
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