Wilde Horses

- Pacioretty had five points in his last five games before the Panthers game but all we kept hearing about was he was struggling. Not even close. Pacioretty is playing a strong two-way game like two years ago when he was near the top of the league in plus-minus. The goal was vintage Pacioretty. It was a howitzer.

- Desharnais with a high-quality snipe into the top corner for the tying goal at two. Desharnais was in on both of the Habs’ first two goals. He had a night in the press box and got back in because of injury. It seems that he benefitted from the rest and/or time to think. Whatever the reason, must have felt good to get out of a streak of 11 games without a point.

- Daniel Carr is in and out of the lineup but for me he's more than Andrighetto and he might even be more than Lehkonen. He deserves a spot. He's always been a scorer, even back to his Union days in Albany. Let's have a shorter leash on this guy is my call.

- Byron's speed. Just wow. That shorthanded crossbar shot was a thing of beauty. Not in of course but what excitement to watch this player. What an absolute theft by Bergevin.

- A rare visiting team player as a Wilde Horse in the Call. Luongo with 18 stops in the second period as the Habs poured it on after a sluggish first. Luongo showed Habs fans what it is like to have the second-best goalie in the game. That happens in Montreal about every 30 games. It happened in this one. Credit to the long-lasting goalie out of St-Leonard for his outstanding game. He was the reason the Panthers won it as Florida was outshot by almost a 2-to-1 margin at 37- 24. The Habs seemed to have that getting outshot thing figured out, by the way.

 

Wilde Goats

- On the Panthers equalizer, Danault cleared the puck in a panic right to the middle at the top of the slot. It always amazes me how that instinct works. This is where goals are scored. Clear the puck into the corner, unless you have time to look at where you can clear with power. You could also alley-oop it high over everybody's head. Don't clear it to the middle of the high slot. It’s a hard instinct for even smart pros to kill.

- Greg Pateryn was beaten for the puck on the second goal to allow the outlet pass. It happens. Problem is that Beaulieu was also back there behind the net. Don't have to tell you how open it was in front of the net, I bet.

- Tomas, ya know I love ya, man, but you have one goal in 17 games this season, so when you have a freebie with the goalie on his back, you gotta consider more than a casual flick of the wrist. Try instead a powerful snap shot to the top shelf. You're welcome. As you were. You're doing a great job against other top lines with a lot of D zone starts, by the way. Just rip that freebie upstairs next time. Yours truly, Brian.

 

Wilde Cards

- We got a look at what not having impeccable in the net every game feels like. Price was human. He's almost always not human. He wasn't poor. He was simply human. The Habs results are influenced many times because of Price being otherworldly. And that's okay. Goalie is a position too in hockey. In fact, it's the most important position. The Habs are lucky to have the world's best goalie and when the best isn't the best, this can be the bottom line. The Habs had a sluggish first. They had a dominating second but the hockey Gods had an L chalked up for the Habs and you had the feeling there wasn't much anyone, even Carey, could do about it. It just wasn't going to be their night. They played well enough and there's no reason to get negative about it at all. It's the ups and downs of a season and this one was a rare down. I mean look at the winner: Galchenyuk breaks his stick, Ekblad breaks his stick, his shot becomes a knuckler going 4 mph that goes off of Beaulieu's skate redirects past Price. Just wasn't meant to be. Put the point in the bank. Don't think about it too much. Move on to the next one.