Anthony Duclair, center, celebrates his goal with Florida Panthers teammates Jonathan Huberdeau, left, and Ben Chiarot during the second period of a 4-3 win Thursday night against the Montreal Canadiens. Paul Chiasson/The Canadian Press via AP
MONTREAL — It took less than a minute for the two newest Florida Panthers to score their first points in their new uniform.
The Panthers’ third trade-deadline pickup only needed about 26 more minutes to get his first Florida point.
Claude Giroux, Brandon Hagg and Ben Chiarot all picked up at least one assist Thursday to help Florida beat the Montreal Canadiens, 4-3, in their first game with their new team.
Giroux and Hagg assisted on Aleksander Barkov’s goal in the opening minute, and Chiarot delivered the primary assist on Anthony Duclair’s go-ahead goal with 12:54 left in the second.
The new-look Panthers (42-14-6) looked a whole lot like the team that has surged into first place in the Eastern Conference, only a bit more well-rounded.
Florida outshot the Canadiens 42-31 and only trailed for seven seconds in Montreal.
Giroux, who was the Most Valuable Player of the 2022 NHL All-Star Game with the Philadelphia Flyers last month, immediately joined the top line in his first game with Florida, slotting in at right wing next to Barkov and Carter Verhaeghe, and he needed less than a minute to make a contribution. After Canadiens forward Nick Suzuki scored 31 seconds into the game, Barkov won the ensuing faceoff back to Hagg, who fired a long pass forward, which Giroux deflected back to Barkov in open ice to score seven seconds later.
Giroux added another assist on a power-play goal in the third period, and now has 902 points in his career and 44 this season.
STARS 4, HURRICANES 3: Tyler Seguin scored in the shootout after goalie Scott Wedgewood was dazzling in his Dallas debut as the Stars won in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Wedgewood stopped 44 shots before denying all three of Carolina’s shootout attempts as the Stars posted their third consecutive victory.
Roope Hintz had two Dallas goals in regulation after Jamie Benn scored the game’s first goal. Jason Robertson added two assists.
Nino Niederreiter scored twice and Vincent Trocheck got the other one for the Hurricanes. Brady Skjei set up both of Niederreiter’s goals.
ISLANDERS 5, RED WINGS 2: Brock Nelson scored twice and Ilya Sorokin made 37 saves to lead New York to its sixth straight home victory.
Anthony Beauvillier scored just nine seconds into the game, and Oliver Wahlstrom and Josh Bailey also scored for the Islanders, who improved to 8-4-1 overall since March 1 and 7-1-1 in their last nine games.
FLYERS 5, BLUES 2: Travis Konecny scored twice, Hayden Hodgson had a goal and an assist in his NHL debut and Philadelphia won at St. Louis.
The Flyers snapped a 13-game winless streak on the road, winning away from home for the first time since Dec. 29 at expansion Seattle.
WILD 3, CANUCKS 2: Joel Eriksson Ek scored 31 seconds into overtime, Cam Talbot made 26 saves and Minnesota beat visiting Vancouver.
Kirill Kaprizov had a goal and an assist, and Kevin Fiala also scored for Minnesota, which has won four in a row and is 6-1-1 in its last eight games. Talbot has won his last seven starts.
The Wild (80 points) moved one point ahead of St. Louis for second place in the Central Division.
SENATORS 5, JETS 2: Brady Tkachuk scored twice and Ottawa got three goals in a 3:15 span in the third period to win at Winnipeg.
Tyler Ennis, Colin White and Connor Brown also scored and Anton Forsberg made 22 saves.
NOTES
BLUE JACKETS: Goaltender Joonas Korpisalo will have hip surgery and will miss the remainder of the season.
The Blue Jackets said Korpisalo will need at least six months to recover.
“This is an injury that Joonas has been dealing with for some time and it has now gotten to the point where surgery is the best option,” General Manager Jarmo Kekalainen said. “We are disappointed for him as he has worked extremely hard to be able to play, but this is the best course of action.”
Korpisalo, who is in the last year of a two-year contract, was expected to be one of the players Columbus would trade before the deadline. The Blue Jackets signed goaltender Elvis Merzlikins to a five-year, $27 million contract.
A former All-Star, Korpisalo appeared in 22 games this season, registering a career-worst .877 save percentage and 4.15 goals-against average. He had a 7-11-0 record.
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