Up against a shell version of the Florida Panthers — a team missing nearly every key player that propelled it to three straight runs to the Stanley Cup Final, with the last two culminating in beer-soaked summers at the famous Elbo Room in Fort Lauderdale — the Canadiens were primed to roll. Fresh legs were meant to kick away the fatigue that nagged them in Sunday’s 3-0 loss to the New Jersey Devils, and reimagined lines presented promise to provide the spark that could set the Canadiens back ablaze ahead of the playoffs.

And then the puck dropped and none of that happened.

“We were flat,” said Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis, who then expressed hope that this game — and the one lost to the Devils Sunday — was an anomaly.

They were two of four straight (including one last Saturday against the Devils and one last Thursday against the New York Rangers) played against teams well out of playoff contention, and, as a result, they were played without the emotional engagement that netted the Canadiens an eight-game winning streak. 

With the playoffs already clinched, the Canadiens gave into temptation and exhaled.

It wasn’t until late in the third period of Tuesday’s game that the Canadiens inhaled, held their breath, and hoped their many talented players would deliver them a win they didn’t deserve.

But that’s the fun of a team like this. 

Even without its change-up, never mind its fastball, it can throw a few great pitches pull a rabbit out of its hat.

“That’s sick,” said Phillip Danault. “Never been part of (a team this talented), and you win with teams like that…”

Yes, you can win when you look down the bench and can count more than a handful of players who can take over in an instant.

When the Canadiens needed one player to do it, it could easily have been Ivan Demidov.

He didn’t sleepwalk through the first two periods like the rest of his teammates; he dominated, creating multiple chances through the first 20 minutes before finally cashing in on one in the first minute of the second.

It was Demidov’s 18^th goal and 61^st point, and he just as easily could’ve had more when the Canadiens needed it most.

Instead, after goals from Danault and Eetu Luostarinen were exchanged within 1:27 of each other in the third, it was Lane Hutson who cut through the gut of the ice, split the defence, pulled Panthers goaltender Daniil Tarasov out of his crease, and slipped captain Nick Suzuki his 28^th goal and 96^thpoint of the season.

“Amazing rush,” said Suzuki of the one Hutson took to help him tie the game 3-3 with 21 seconds left in regulation.

In overtime, Cole Caufield missed the last of his six attempts of the night to score his 50^th goal of the season.

But he and Alex Texier scored two no-doubters in the shootout to seal the 4-3 win that tied the Canadiens with the Tampa Bay Lightning and Buffalo Sabres in points (102) and kept them in the race for the Atlantic Division crown.

Depth will factor in over the remaining four games in a more traditional way than it did in this fifth-to-last one for the Canadiens. You’d expect it to help the team create waves of pressure — and for the talented players to surf those waves and score the goals needed to win games.

The Canadiens didn’t get those waves against the injury-riddled Panthers, but they got timely ripples.

Texier created some by extending offensive-zone shifts to give Demidov a wider canvas to paint on.

And boy, that 20-year-old kid created beautiful things on that canvas, leaving at least one of his teammates in awe.

“I see electric, just outstanding skill; edge control — unbelievable,” said Danault. “One of the most special players I’ve seen in my career. Soon enough, it’ll be an honour to play with him. And it already is. Sixty points at a young age like that, playing not many minutes every night and showing up and dedicated like he is. He’ll be a master of his category.”

Suzuki already is one. Caufield and Hutson are right there with him.

And then there’s Juraj Slafkovsky, who was far from his best on Tuesday but still notched assist Nos. 39 and 40 to get to 69 points in Game 78 of his fourth NHL season.

He had a career-high 51 in 79 games last season, and he’s only eight days removed from his 22^nd birthday.

Another 22-year-old, who’s ridden shotgun with Demidov all season, moved to the fourth line with Danault and Josh Anderson.

And while Oliver Kapanen was still stuck on 22 goals at the end of the night, he was effective.

That the Canadiens could push a player of his ability down speaks to how their depth could be a weapon. 

Veleno was too sick to play, but he will bolster that depth when he returns. Gallagher may get more rest between now and the end of the season, but you know the 33-year-old veteran will have a role to play in playoff games. 

Alex Carrier (injured) and Kaiden Guhle (maintenance) will have big ones, and fill-ins Arber Xhekaj and Adam Engstrom will help if need be.

That’s a lot of depth to rely on.

When it doesn’t come through, it sure is nice to have talent though.

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Max Sasson opened the scoring for the Canucks (22-47-8) with a wrist shot over the glove of Golden Knights goalie Carter Hart at the 12:50 mark of the second period. It was his 13th goal of the season.

Brayden McNabb replied for Vegas (36-26-16) less than three minutes later, sending a shot through traffic to knot the score at 1-1. Smith scored the go-ahead goal 12:13 into the final frame.

Vancouver had a prime chance to force extra time when Vegas defenceman Rasmus Andersson was called for interference with less than two minutes left on the game clock. 

The Canucks pulled netminder Nikita Tolopilo in favour of an extra attacker, but couldn’t bury the equalizer.

Hart stopped nine of the 10 shots he faced in the Golden Knights’ net while Tolopilo made 26 saves for the Canucks.

The result stretched Vegas’ win streak to four straight games under new head coach John Tortorella, who took over behind the bench March 31. 

Takeaways

Canucks: Struggled offensively all game and were outshot 28-10. Vancouver didn’t register a shot until defenceman Victor Mancini fired a puck into Hart with just over five minutes remaining in the first period. 

Golden Knights: Swept the three-game season series between the two sides after winning 5-2 on Feb. 4 and 4-2 on March 30 in Vegas … Brandon Saad slotted back into the lineup after missing 13 straight games as a healthy scratch. 

Key moment

Smith won a battle along the boards at Vancouver’s blue line and dished the puck off to Nic Dowd. The veteran forward sliced a pass back to Smith, who launched a shot from the top of the faceoff circle, sending it in past Tolopilo to give the Golden Knights a 2-1 lead 12:13 into the third. 

Key stat

The Golden Knights have points in seven of their last eight games (5-1-2).

Up next

Canucks: Visit the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday.

Golden Knights: Visit the Seattle Kraken on Thursday. 

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Avalanche beat Blues to clinch top spot in Western Conference

Alexander Kerfoot forced overtime with 7:04 left in regulation after tapping in a long feed from Sean Durzi, setting the stage for Utah to claim its first win over Edmonton.

Nick Schmaltz scored twice in the second period to rally the Mammoth from a two-goal deficit. JJ Peterka and Logan Cooley also scored, and Karel Vejmelka had 21 saves.

Curtis Lazar, Connor McDavid, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Vasily Podkolzin, and Colton Dach scored for the Oilers, who lost their second straight. Tristan Jarry made 25 stops.

Utah opened the scoring in the first when Peterka converted a feed from Ian Cole at the 1:53 mark. Edmonton then scored three straight in the period. Lazar beat two defenders and slid the puck underneath Vejmelka with a well-timed backhand shot for an equalizer 11 seconds after Peterka.

McDavid put the Oilers ahead at the 8:56 mark when he scored on the power play. Nugent-Hopkins extended the lead with 5:17 left in the first.

Utah scored three times in the second period with two goals by Schmaltz and another by Cooley. Podkolzin scored at 16:06 and the teams were tied at 4 after two periods.

Dach collected the puck off a blocked shot and scored a second-chance goal to give Edmonton a 5-4 lead at the 2:10 mark of the third period.

Up next

Oilers: At San Jose on Wednesday.

Mammoth: Host Nashville on Thursday.

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Flames fall to Stars on Johnston’s OT winner

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Johnston scored 3:39 into overtime on a power-play backhand shot. Jason Robertson and Miro Heiskanen each assisted on the goal.

Justin Hryckowian and Robertson also scored for the Stars (46-20-12).

Zayne Parekh, Yegor Sharangovich and Joel Farabee scored for the Flames (32-36-9), who led 3-1 early in the third period.

But Johnston with his first of the game, and Robertson’s wrist shot 4:51 into the third period sent the game to overtime.

Jake Oettinger stopped 17 shots in the win for the Stars. Devin Cooley made 21 saves for the Flames.

The Stars won 62 per cent of the faceoffs in the game.

Flames defenceman Kevin Bahl left early in the first period with a lower-body injury and did not return.

Up Next:

Flames: Visit the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday.

Stars: Host the Minnesota Wild on Thursday.

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