Canadiens' latest win highlights how their success became sustainable in 2025
The Canadiens completed the calendar year with a win on the road against the Panthers, much like last year. But this feels different.
The Montreal Canadiens ended a momentous 2025 with a come-from-behind 3-2 overtime road win against the Florida Panthers on Tuesday.
Nick Suzuki scored the tying goal with 1:22 left in regulation time and the winning goal on a power play at 3:24 of overtime, something he also did against the Panthers on April 1 at home in the heat of a playoff race last season.
He’s been frustrated with his line’s play of late, and with Alexandre Texier being the latest to get an audition opposite Cole Caufield at right wing, Suzuki’s line had a game to end 2025, outshooting the Panthers 12-1 in their five-on-five minutes.
“I thought he (Suzuki) was excellent tonight,” Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis told reporters in Florida after the game. “I thought that line played really well. … They had some looks.”
Suzuki’s two goals gave him 32 goals, 65 assists and 97 points in 84 games played in 2025, tied for sixth in the NHL over the calendar year entering play on New Year’s Eve. Lane Hutson’s two assists, including on Suzuki’s winner in overtime, gave him nine goals, 69 assists and 78 points in 84 games in 2025, third among NHL defencemen with one day left in the year.
Those two players connecting on the Canadiens’ final goal of 2025 could not have been more fitting.
VICTOIRE, NICK SUZUKI 🎉🎉
CAPTAIN WINS IT#GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/Fg6pOtXf5Z
— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) December 31, 2025
That’s not where the symbolism ended for the Canadiens. On Dec. 28, 2024, the Canadiens played their first game out of the Christmas break in Sunrise, Fla., against the Panthers. Despite being outshot 34-25, Montreal finished with a 4-0 win as goalie Jakub Dobeš pitched a shutout in his NHL debut.
Dobeš’ arrival was a turning point of last season. And perhaps Sam Montembeault’s performance Tuesday will be a turning point in this one. He turned aside 28 shots, and more importantly, looked square and poised and on time tracking pucks. The Canadiens need Montembeault to find his game, and a performance like this, nearly a month after his last NHL start Dec. 2, could be just what he needed to do that.
What made this game so significant, more so than the individual performances, is where the Canadiens find themselves compared to the team that played in Sunrise last year.
Montreal at Florida on Dec. 28, 2024
Caufield
Suzuki
Slafkovský
Newhook
Dach
Laine
Anderson
Dvorak
Gallagher