October 25th, 1982
Montreal Canadiens (9-6-1) at Florida Panthers (6-7-2)
Off to Florida we go, although we lost a few nights ago, we have points in 6 straight games. Our last regulation loss was October 7th in a 5-1 loss to these Florida Panthers. My "Who's Hot" list has C
Chris Hughes and LW
Lorenzo Bocci on it, my "Who's Not" list is basically the 2nd line. The chemistry is just not there, offensively or defensively. The issue is that do I dare make a change when we are 5-0-1 since the change. Nope !
The top players on the Florida roster is led by RW
Martin Babirad. The 30 year old has 2 goals and 10 points in 15 games, and certainly not on the pace for 74 points that he had in 81-82. He has been a pretty productive player with Florida scoring 61 goals and 148 points in 175 career NHL games. At $10.0 M per season, the Panthers expect him to heat up. LD
Will Petty is certainly a solid defensive player. Not big in stature which maybe why he has been on the I/R more then on the roster. Over the past 3 years the 31 year old Panther has played 33 games, 27 games and only 5 so far this year. RD
Zak Swain burnt us for 3 goals in our last meeting. The 39 year old now has 6 goals and 9 points in 15 games. Over his career Swain has 29 goals and 101 points in 144 NHL games.
Montreal is healthy with all the regulars playing. With back to back games and the Atlantic division leading Bruins up tomorrow the Habs will go with back up
Steve Burris. Burris is 0-2 in his 2 starts, but has a .931 save %. Florida is going with
Rob Wolf, he has 11 starts and a .908 save %.
Florida 7
Montreal 4
It took 6 minutes for Montreal to get their first shot on net as it was a slow start for both teams in that department. At 15:48 the struggling 2nd line came through for Montreal as RW
Al Ladd scored his 3rd of the year. A few minutes later Habs killer
Zak Swain scored his 7th of the year on the PP. Time of the goal was 17:38. The Panthers score another goal on the PP, this time
Mike Tate with his 3rd at 19:27. The period would end with the Panthers lead 2-1 and out shooting Montreal 11 to 6.
LW
Lorenzo Bocci ties it up with his 12th of the year at 4:03 of the 2nd period. The period ends tied 2-2. The shots were 5 to 5 in the 2nd. So far Florida is 2 for 6 on the PP and Montreal is 0 for 2.
Florida takes a 3-2 lead when
Michael Redenbach scores his 2nd of the year at 3:16 while on the PP. Montreal gets that one right back when C
Chris Hughes gets his 11th goal of the year on the PP at 3:50. Florida takes a 4-3 lead at 9:17 when
Mike Tate gets his 4th of the season. This time at even strength. Just what Montreal needs,
Marc-Andre Berube gets a holding minor at 14:27 when the Panther PP has already scored 3 times on 8 chances. Well it gets better,
Matej Ouhrabka gets 2 for cross checking on the ensuing face-off. Florida will be on a 5 on 3 for nearly 2 full minutes.
Mike Tate completes the Hat Trick with his 5th of the year at 15:53. Its 5-3 and we still have a second penalty to kill. C
Chris Hughes scores at 16:15 while SH and the Canadiens are back to within 1 on Hughes 12th goal. Florida seal the deal with a couple of late goals including an empty netter and beat Montreal 7-4.
Florida's LW
Mike Tate was named the 1st star, he had 3 goals. The 19 year old Tate now has 5 goals and 16 points in 16 games. Last season as an NHL rookie, Tate had 18 goals and 50 points playing in all 82 games. He was an impressive +18 as a rookie. He was the Panthers 72nd overall pick in the 1981 NHL entry Draft.
| PER | TEAM | GOAL | # | ASSIST | ASSIST |
| 1st | MTL | Al Ladd | 3 | Matej Ouhrabka | Dave Wright |
| 1st | FLO | Zak Swain (PP) | 7 | Will Petty | Martin Babirad |
| 1st | FLO | Mike Tate (PP) | 3 | Will Petty | Luke Tuin |
| 2nd | MTL | Lorenzo Bocci | 12 | Marek Bartolcic | Chris Hughes |
| 3rd | FLO | Michael Redenbach (PP) | 2 | Zak Swain | Luke Tuin |
| 3rd | MTL | Chris Hughes (PP) | 11 | Lorenzo Bocci | Al Ladd |
| 3rd | FLO | Mike Tate | 4 | Peter Mold | Martin Babirad |
| 3rd | FLO | Mike Tate (PP) | 5 | Keith Capassisit | Scott Weaver |
| 3rd | MTL | Chris Hughes (SH) | 12 | Martin Sulc | Yegor Berestnev |
| 3rd | FLO | Peter Mold | 2 | Dominik Hyanek | Scott Weaver |
| 3rd | FLO | Keith Capassisit (EN) | 2 | Cody Wapachee | Mirek Motl |
| MAJOR PENALTY's |
|
|
|
| PER | TEAM | PLAYER | MIN | PENALTY |
| 3rd | MTL | Ronnie Marvin | 5 | Fighting |
| 3rd | FLO | Mike Nolan | 5 | Fighting |
| TEAM | GOALIE | SA | GA |
| MTL | Steve Burris | 31 | 6 |
| FLO | Rob Wolf | 17 | 4 |
Around the league................
Edmonton Oilers LW
Martin Vondracek had 3 goals in a 5-3 win over the Sharks. The 23 year old Vondracek has 14 goals and 30 points with a +15 rating in 17 games. Vondracek started his career with the Flames in 80-81 before getting traded to the Oilers before the trading deadline that season. In 182 career NHL games, he has 64 goals and 133 points.