The Florida Panthers go into 2012 atop the Southeast Division this late in a season for the first time in more than a decade. Yet as good as that sounds, the Panthers were in no mood to celebrate after Saturday night’s 3-2 win over Montreal at BankAtlantic Center.

And it was all because of a 30-minute span between the end of the first period and the middle of the second.

First, enforcer Krys Barch — brought to Florida in a trade with Dallas last month — was ejected after linesman Darren Gibbs overheard him use a racial slur during a scrum near the Florida net, according to a league official. Barch’s slur was aimed toward Montreal’s PK Subban, who is black.

“No comment,’’ general manager Dale Tallon said as he was heading downstairs during the second intermission. “I don’t know what happened yet.’’

According to rule 23.7 of the league’s official guide, a player can be ejected for various reasons, including spitting on an opponent or spectator and “racial taunts and slurs.’’

Panthers general partner Cliff Viner was visibly shaken when told of why Barch was tossed from the game.

“This is not what the character of this organization is about. Period,’’ Viner said. “I’m devastated by that kind of behavior. That is not what we’re about as an organization, a team, coaching staff, hockey operations. Dale, I’m sure, will be very critical of this. I hope they talk to the team and let them know this is unacceptable. You play hard, you fight hard. But that’s not part of any competition.’’

Said coach Kevin Dineen: “What we have is an incredibly broken up player [Barch] in there. He feels extremely bad that there was an insinuation that something inappropriate was said. Now it’s a league matter. Obviously the Florida Panthers and Krys Barch are really shaken up by this.’’

To make things worse, at the 4:41 mark of the second period, goalie Jose Theodore was forced to leave after getting run over by Montreal’s Mike Blunden and teammate Dmitry Kulikov. Although Theodore was hit in the head and shoulder after being hit, it appears he suffered a knee or leg injury as he fell awkwardly.

Theodore will be out for a while, Dineen said. Scott Clemmensen, who was pulled in the opening period of Friday’s 4-1 loss to the Rangers after giving up three goals, was put in and stopped 15 of 16 shots faced as Florida rallied from an early 1-0 deficit.

If Theodore is out for an extended period of time — the Panthers don’t play until Thursday — rookie Jacob Markstrom will likely be recalled from AHL San Antonio.

“It was good to get a win to get us back in the right direction,’’ Clemmensen said. “Any time you get pulled from a game, you can’t wait to get back in there. I didn’t expect it to be tonight, and I sure didn’t want it to be because Jose got hurt.’’

As has traditionally been the case, the Panthers played a road game at home against the Canadiens as the announced attendance of 20,098 — second largest of the season — was dominated by fans cheering on the northern visitors.

The Canadiens jumped to a 1-0 lead when Travis Moen snapped a slap shot past Theodore 5:37 into the game. The score stayed that way until the second when Tomas Fleischmann roofed a shot on Carey Price on a power play at 3:46 of the second.

Shawn Matthias gave Florida a 2-1 lead when he picked up his eighth of the season by wristing a shot from 35 feet out just over three minutes into the third. Fleischmann got his second of the night by scoring into an empty net with 40.2 seconds remaining.

Erik Cole gave the Canadiens hope by scoring with 29.8 remaining, but Clemmensen held on.

Around the ice

Panthers winger Tomas Kopecky was not suspended for punching New York’s Mike Del Zotto in the final seconds of Friday’s loss. Both Kopecky and Del Zotto were fined the league-maximum $2,500. Del Zotto engaged Kopecky with a high stick to the head near the goal crease.

“I give the powers-that-be a lot of credit because they analyzed the situation, looked at a lot of video,’’ Dineen said Saturday morning.

• Barch got a game misconduct on Friday when he came out for the faceoff following the scrap. Dineen said he put Barch out there to send a message to the Rangers. With Barch’s actions on Saturday, it’s unlikely he plays for the Panthers on Thursday at Madison Square Garden against the Rangers.

• Florida is 2-0 against the Canadiens this season.

• The Panthers will take Sunday off and return to their practice facility in Coral Springs on Monday morning around 10 a.m. for a workout. It is open to the public and admission is free.