The Habs pulled off another great comeback, but shot themselves in the foot repeatedly and took another loss.

Jonathan Huberdeau and Ryan Lomberg each had two goals and an assist as the Florida Panthers defeated the Montreal team 7-4 on Tuesday at FLA Live Arena.

The Habs were dominated for a long time by their rivals and were repeatedly bottled up in its territory. They did make things interesting by overcoming a 4-1 deficit late in the second period.

However, the Panthers were not rattled and cruised to victory in the final period. They broke their team record for goals in a season along the way, swelling their total to 271. They still have 16 games to play this season.

Laurent Dauphin and Chris Wideman each had a goal and an assist, while Joel Edmundson and Christian Dvorak also scored for the Habs (18-38-11). Jake Allen allowed six goals on 45 shots.

Sam Bennett had a goal and two assists and Aleksander Barkov had a goal and an assist, while Mason Marchment also scored for the Panthers (45-15-6). Sergei Bobrovsky turned aside 20 shots.

With 70 assists this season, Huberdeau set an NHL record for assists by a left winger.

Forward Jake Evans left the game with less than eight minutes left in the third period after falling hard against the rail. For the Panthers, Noel Acciari did not return to the game after the first period.

The Canadiens will play their next game on Thursday when they visit the Carolina Hurricanes.

The Habs struck first, when Wideman beat Bobrovsky at 2:32 on an overtime rush.

Bobrovsky redeemed himself moments later, frustrating Paul Byron on a shorthanded breakaway.

The tide slowly turned in favour of the Panthers, who took advantage of a few mistakes by the Habs.

Huberdeau tied the game at 16:17 on a power play after Justin Barron lost control of the puck in the neutral zone. Lomberg then scored at 17:57 after Joe Thornton stole the puck from Evans, who had stopped playing after being hit in the face by a rival's glove.

The Habs' troubles continued in the second period. Bennett hit the target at 2:37 after a denied clearance by Evans. Evans also lost the ensuing face-off, as well as missing coverage on Bennett on the play.

Lomberg scored his second goal of the game at 7:57, after a silly turnover by Mike Hoffman out of the zone.

The Panthers finished the second period with a 19-5 advantage in shots on goal. However, the Habs found a way to get back into the game, scoring on their final three shots of the frame.

Edmundson, on a Suzuki set-up, and Dauphin, on a return, scored in a 31-second span, before Dvorak threaded the needle to tie the game with 1:54 to go in the second.

Another Hoffman gaffe in his zone put the Panthers back in front with 1:19 to play in the third period. Huberdeau completed the sequence, after he and Bennett found themselves alone in front of Allen.

Evans broke away on a four-on-three power play midway through the third period. Bobrovsky stopped Evans' shot, which then fell and gave heavily against the boards. Evans needed help to get off the ice.

Marchment delivered the final blow with 5:17 left on the clock, then Barkov rounded out the scoring with a shot into an empty net late in the game.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on March 29, 2022.