March 17th, 1983
Florida Panthers (45-23-10) at
Montreal Canadiens (47-27-4)
The Canadiens play a critical game that could impact where the finish the season when they face the Panthers at the Bell Center. Florida leads the season series 2 games to 1 so far with the last game at Bell Center won 2-1 by Montreal.
| Play-off Race |
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| Atlantic | GP | W | L | OT | PTS | DIFF |
| Florida Panthers | 78 | 45 | 23 | 10 | 100 | 65 |
| Buffalo Sabres | 77 | 46 | 24 | 7 | 99 | 47 |
| Montreal Canadiens | 78 | 47 | 27 | 4 | 98 | 49 |
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| Pacific | GP | W | L | OT | PTS | DIFF |
| Carolina Hurricanes | 78 | 50 | 24 | 4 | 104 | 46 |
| Washington Capitals | 77 | 46 | 28 | 3 | 95 | 46 |
| New York Islanders | 78 | 43 | 28 | 7 | 93 | 10 |
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| Wild Card Race | GP | W | L | OT | PTS | DIFF |
| x-Boston Bruins | 79 | 44 | 31 | 4 | 92 | 40 |
| x-Pittsburgh Penguins | 77 | 44 | 32 | 1 | 89 | 10 |
| Tampa Bay Lightning | 77 | 39 | 32 | 6 | 84 | -2 |
| Columbus Blue Jackets | 77 | 36 | 32 | 9 | 81 | 6 |
A Montreal win could make the Atlantic very interesting.
Veteran C
Tom Gaskell plays the role of a offensive forward on the 4th line for Montreal. The 31 year old is a perimeter shooter that has played all 78 games for Montreal this year. He has 6 goals and 12 assists for 18 points with 14 PIMs and a -4 rating. Gaskell came over to the Canadiens as a free agent after 2 seasons with the Canucks. In 234 career NHL games, he has 21 goals, 95 points, 80 PIMs and a -7 rating.
The Panthers could end up anywhere between 1st and 3rd in the Atlantic this season. Today's game will have a huge say in where they finish. The Panthers are leading the league in goals against, they average only 2.13 goals against per game. An area to exploit on the Panthers is their PK, they rank 25th in the NHL at 82.4 %.
Florida will start G
Rob Wolf, he has 31 wins in 58 games this year with a .919 save %. Montreal starts G
Mike Blackshear, he has 39 wins in 63 games with a .904 save %.
Montreal scores 1st, RW
Yevgeny Ronov gets his 14th of the season at 11:56 to make it 1-0 Montreal. The shots ended just 8 to 3 in favour of the Panthers in the 1st.
Florida ties it up 1-1 at 8:33 of the 2nd when C
Kelvin Spencer gets his 6th of the season on the PP. Montreal goes up 2-1 on RW
Yevgeny Ronov's 2nd of the game at 13:30 of the 2nd. The 2nd period ends with Montreal out shooting Florida 7 to 4 in a tight checking affair.
The Florida Panthers get a SH goal at 7:40 of the 3rd period to tie the game 2-2. RW
Dan Kruss gets his 23rd of the season. RW
Dan Kruss gets his 2nd of the game at 11:37 to take a 3-2 lead on Montreal. The Canadiens could not get the tieing goal and lost 3-2. Florida out shot Montreal 10 to 6 in the 3rd. Florida was 1 for 3 on the PP while Montreal was 0 for 4.
Florida's RW
Dan Kruss was the 1st star with 2 goals. The 19 year old rookie now has 24 goals and 44 points in 79 games. The former Mississauga Steelhead forward had 55 goals and 109 points in 81 career OHL games. Kruss was a 1st round, 22nd overall pick of the Panthers in the 1982 NHL Entry Draft.
Florida 3
Montreal 2
| PER | TEAM | GOAL | # | ASSIST | ASSIST |
| 1st | MTL | Yevgeny Ronov | 14 | Matej Ouhrabka | Jiri Bohm |
| 2nd | FLO | Kelvin Spencer (PP) | 27 | Stephen Latonas |
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| 2nd | MTL | Yevgeny Ronov | 15 | Dave Wright | Jiri Bohm |
| 3rd | FLO | Dan Kruss (SH) | 23 | Zak Swain |
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| 3rd | FLO | Dan Kruss | 24 | Luke Tuin | Keith Capassisit |
| MAJOR's |
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| PER | TEAM | PLAYER | MIN | PENALTY |
| 3rd | MTL | Dave Wright | 5 | Fighting |
| 3rd | FLO | Jon Mathers | 5 | Fighting |
| TEAM | GOALIE | SA | GA |
| FLO | Rob Wolf | 16 | 2 |
| MTL | Mike Blackshear | 22 | 3 |
Around the league..........
St Louis Blues G
Antonio Rios made 31 saves in a 6-0 win over the Jets. The 29 year old Rios now has 35 wins, with a 2.24 GAA and .912 save % with 5 SO's in 62 games. The 1982 Vezina Trophy Winner and 1982 All-Star has played in 190 games, has a 97-75-18 career NHL record with 2.51 GAA, a .915 save % and 17 SO's.
Montreal Canadiens got some good news on the injury front, LW
Lorenzo Bocci has been cleared to play. The 29 year old has 30 goals with 23 assists for 53 points in 54 games this year. The 1982 All-Star has played in 198 career NHL games, has 81 goals, 158 points, 332 PIMs and a +63 rating.
The Canadiens demoted C
Donald Ley to the AHL. The 30 year old had played in 3 games with Montreal and was pointless. Ley has played 181 career NHL games and had 15 goals and 36 points.
Nashville Predators C
Jeremy Longboat had 2 goals and an assist in a 5-0 win over the Wild. The 25 year old Longboat now has 48 goals and 100 points in 79 games. The 2-time All-Star has played in 243 NHL games, has 107 career NHL goals, 237 points, 246 PIMs and a +41 rating.
Pittsburgh Penguins C
Michael McDaniel had a goal and 5 assists in a 6-3 win over the Flyers. The 30 year old now has 30 goals and 81 points in 82 games. He was traded to the Penguins on February 1st, 1983 from the Stars. In 219 career NHL games, he has 78 goals, 203 points, 205 PIMs and a +31 rating.
Nashville Predators C
Jeremy Longboat had a goal in a 3-2 win over the Stars. The 25 year old Longboat now has 49 goals with 52 assists for 101 points with a +38 rating in 80 games.
Anaheim Ducks G
Coy Crane made 31 saves in a 3-0 win over the Sharks. The 29 year old now has 29 wins with a 2.54 GAA, a .921 save % and 5 SO's in 58 games this year. Crane has played in 177 NHL games including 4 with the Penguins before getting traded to the Ducks. He has a 77-73-25 career record with a 2.76 GAA, a .913 save % and 13 SO's.