The Philadelphia Flyers’ 3-game winning streak came to a halt after the Montréal Canadiens mounted a comeback in the third period to further secure their playoff position in a tight Wild Card race.
The Flyers opened the scoring just a little over 4 minutes into the game off the stick of Ryan Poehling but were essentially cut off offensively soon after. They held the Canadiens off the board for the first 40 minutes but the floodgates opened in the third period, which put the Flyers to bed.
Brendan Gallagher and Lane Hutson scored goals 1:16 apart early in the third period before a shorthanded marker from Nick Suzuki essentially iced the game away. Tyson Foerster scored a late power play tally with 39 seconds left but it was too little too late for the Flyers.
Samuel Ersson played a solid 40 minutes before the Canadiens started peppering away in the final frame as he took the loss while allowing 3 goals on 27 shots. Sam Montembeault earned his 29th victory of the season, stopping 20 of 22 shots.
After a rare 4 days off, the Flyers returned to the ice looking to extend their 3-game winning streak against the Canadiens on the road.
After firing John Tortorella, the Flyers turned things up immediately on the offensive side of the puck with 15 goals scored over their last 3 games. Al though tonight’s game featured a few lineup changes in the form of Nicolas Deslauriers and Karsen Dorwart coming in for Olle Lycksell and Rodrigo Ābols.
Dorwart’s NHL debut comes on the heels of a 31-point campaign for Michigan State University before he signed a 2-year entry level contract with the Flyers after they were ousted from the NCAA Tournament.
For the Canadiens, they entered Saturday with a hold of the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference ahead of the New York Rangers by 2 points and the Columbus Blue Jackets by 4. They were paced by Suzuki’s 81 points in 75 games, Cole Caufield’s 35 goals and 65 points, and Hutson’s 57 assists and 62 points.
In goal they decided to go with Montembeault after Jakub Dobeš got the call the last time these two faced off against one another in Brad Shaw’s first game behind the bench. The third netminder for Team Canada at the 4 Nations Face-Off sported a 28-23-6 record with a 2.86 GAA and a .899 SV% entering the game.
FIRST PERIOD
The Flyers opened the scoring 4:10 into the game off the stick of Poehling. Jakob Pelletier was the driving force of the goal as he traversed the neutral zone before playing pitch and catch with Cam York. He then quickly found Poehling with an open net in front of him as he deposited his 12th goal of the season and his 11th point over his last 11 games.
At the 5:41 mark of the first period the Flyers jumped onto a 4-minute power play after Alexandre Carrier was assessed a double minor high sticking penalty against Matvei Michkov. They had a couple of good chances at the on-set but the Canadiens had the better chances shorthanded as Michkov remained on the bench due to repairs.
With 8:22 remaining in the period, the Canadiens jumped onto their first power play of the game after York was nailed for a delay of game minor. A very dangerous top unit had the Flyers hemmed in their own zone for the first 1:40 of the power play but Ersson made a couple of key stops to keep the score at 1-0.
The period came to a close with the Flyers holding onto a 1-goal lead as well as a 7-4 edge in shots.
SECOND PERIOD
It was a fast-paced second period with the Canadiens assuredly feeling the urgency to get on the board with their playoff lives at risk. They had caught up in shots by the midway point of the period as both teams were tied at 10-apiece.
With 8:55 left to play in the middle frame, the Canadiens jumped onto their second power play of the night after Pelletier was called for a slashing minor. Unlike their first chance, it took them over a minute just to set up and were only able to generate one consequential opportunity.
The period came to a close with the Flyers continuing to cling onto their 1-goal lead with the Canadiens now in front on the shot clock at 15-12.
THIRD PERIOD
The Canadiens hemmed the Flyers in their own zone early in the third period and were finally able to get on the board after Gallagher wired a one-timer from the slot glove-high past Ersson at the 1:24 mark. They had just missed on a one-timer a few seconds before they regrouped and found a way to get one past Ersson.
1:16 later, Hutson gave the Canadiens their first lead of the game after he wired a shot from a bad angle over Ersson, who went down a little too soon. The rookie weaved through the defense with an end-to-end rush that started out from behind his own net before wiring one past an unsuspecting Ersson.
Montréal held an early 7-0 edge in shots to start the period as the ice completely tilted in their favour, however the cracks were forming in the Flyers game midway through the second period.
With 10:40 remaining in regulation, the Canadiens opened the door slightly ajar for the Flyers after Juraj Slafkovský was nailed for a boarding minor against Sean Couturier. Similarly to their last power play attempt, Couturier had several ten-bell chances but was unable to find the back of the net.
After a simple clearance, they Canadiens found a way to get another one past Ersson while shorthanded after he mismanaged the puck into the no-play area, which allowed Suzuki to seize control of the situation.
I’m not entirely sure what Ersson was doing as he fumbled a rather easy attempt but after Suzuki corralled the puck, he wrapped it around the net before firing it from the high-slot for his 27th of the season.
The Flyers pulled Ersson with 3:34 remaining and after a couple of unsuccessful series in the offensive zone, they earned a late power play with 1:47 remaining after the Canadiens were nailed for a delay of game minor.
After being very very patient with the goalie pulled and the Canadiens down a man, Travis Konecny set up Foerster in the slot to cut the deficit to 1 with just 38 seconds remaining.
The Flyers had a few chances with the clock winding down but it was too little too late as they saw their winning streak snapped at 3 games.
UP NEXT
The Flyers will take on the New York Rangers on Wednesday at Madison Square Garden (7:30pm; TNT, TruTV, Max).
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