The set-up: The 27-7 35-Florida Panthers gained some ground in the Eastern Conference playoff race during a 12-game stay in the Sunshine State by going 9-2-1 but they will wrap up the month by spending most of their time on the road. Florida begins a stretch that features seven of its next eight contests away from home on Monday, when it visits the struggling Montreal Canadiens, who at 26-234-12 (64 points), will miss the postseason. The Canadiens are playing out the string of a disappointing, injury-plagued season and have recorded just one victory in their last eight games (1-5-2) after suffering a 4-0 loss at Toronto on Saturday.

Florida: The Panthers' 4-2 loss to Edmonton on Saturday stalled their playoff drive, as Florida is currently five points out of the second wild-card spot in the East However, the Panthers do own games in hand on every team ahead of them in the standings. All-Star Aleksander Barkov has a team-high 70 points but he has cooled off, with just two assists in his last four games. Vincent Trocheck takes a six-game point streak into this contest, one during which he has collected four of his team-best 28 goals and five assists to move within four points of Barkov's team lead. Defenseman Keith Yandle has registered nine assists over his last eight contests while Nick Bjugstad has notched 11 points in his past nine games.

Montreal: Alex Galchenyuk has posted four assists in his last three contests to pull even for the team lead in points (44) with Brendan Gallagher, who has scored two of his club-best 26 goals in the last four games. Jonathan Drouin has registered four of his 37 points in the last four games while defenseman Jeff Petry has continued to add to his career high in points by notching three of his 35 over the last four contests. However, Montreal is 29th in the league in scoring (2.5 goals). Yes, Montreal is 5-for-12 with the man advantage over its last five games but has also allowed 13 power-play goals over its last nine contests.

The pick: Clearly, the Panthers can't afford to take any team lightly at this time of the season. Losing to the Oilers, who are 13th in the Western Conference, is a prime example of a "missed opportunity. They same is true here, as the Canadiens are 13th in the Eastern Conference. The Canadiens are coming off a 4-0 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday, the 11th time the Canadiens have been shut out this season, setting a franchise record. Consider this. The Canadiens' injury list remains a long one. Goaltender Carey Price (concussion, injured reserve); defensemen Shea Weber (foot, out for the season), Victor Mete (finger, day to day); David Schlemko (lower body, day to day); Rinat Valiev (lower body, day to day) and forwards Ales Hemsky (upper body, injured reserve); Max Pacioretty (knee, day to day); Phillip Danault (headaches, day to day); and Andrew Shaw (head, day to day). Simply put, make Florida a 10* play.