Canadiens 3, Panthers 2: Defenseman P.K. Subban scored to snap a tie late in the second period and Dustin Tokarski made 21 of his 41 saves in the third as visiting Montreal moved back into first place in the Atlantic Division.

Rookie Jacob De La Rose had a short-handed goal and added an assist for the Canadiens, who posted just their third win in nine games (3-4-2) and crawled two points up on idle Tampa Bay. Blue-liner Alexei Emelin also tallied and Brandon Prust notched two assists in the victory.

Brandon Pirri scored for the third straight game and 13th time in 18 contests for the Panthers, who have dropped two in a row to reside seven points behind Boston in the race for the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. Aleksander Barkov also tallied and Dan Ellis turned aside 22 shots to drop to 3-2-1 since being recalled from San Antonio of the American Hockey League.

Subban settled the puck and hesitated briefly before wristing a shot from the upper edge of the right circle to beat Ellis and give Montreal a 3-2 lead with 4:34 remaining in the second period. Tokarski made the slim advantage stand up, fending off Florida's late charge as it searched for the equalizer.

Barkov benefited from lifting the stick of Canadiens defenseman Jeff Petry before slapping the puck between the pads of Tokarski to open the scoring at 4:20 of the second period, but Emelin's shot from the point forged a tie 84 seconds later. De La Rose converted a 2-on-none rush at 8:23, but Pirri scored from the inner edge of the right circle five minutes later to level the contest.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Barkov's 12th goal of the season pushed his point total to a career-high 25. ... Montreal failed on all three power-play opportunities to drop to 2-for-26 over the last 10 games. ... Canadiens C David Desharnais struggled mightily in the faceoff circle, winning just 2-of-11 draws.