The Philadelphia Flyers (2-6-1) dropped another second game of a back-to-back but with a different look. Alexei Kolosov made his first NHL start, and, in addition, Emil Andrae made his season debut in place of Egor Zamula. However, those personnel adjustments did not help the Flyers keep up with the Montréal Canadiens.
Defensively, Philadelphia dug themselves into a hole. They were a step behind, looking sluggish when they could not afford to be.
If your roster does not have goaltending stability, then defense must be a top priority. The Flyers were backpedaling and puck-watching, and the forwards did not support the defensemen. In the attacking zone, Philadelphia remained on the perimeter. The Canadiens smothered most of the offense generated in the middle, near the slot.
“We’re just not in fives. You need to play up the ice in fives. It not only helps you defensively, but it helps you offensively. We’re just not playing in the fives, and it’s something we have to continue to work at.” – John Tortorella; 10/27/2024
Late, the Flyers played with urgency, but the comeback bid came up short.
First Period
Before the puck dropped, Philadelphia was the favorite. The odds-makers considered the Flyers, who started an unknown commodity at goaltender, the likely team to solve Cayden Primeau. These odds did not reflect the success Primeau has when these two teams go head-to-head. Primeau was already 2-1-1 in this career matchup, and each loss was by a one-goal margin.
From the onset, this would be a contest full of attitude and personality. Sean Couturier skated through the neutral zone, grazing Kirby Dach. In the corner, along the boards, Arber Xhekaj challenged Couturier, and each player dropped their gloves. Shutting down the fight before it could begin, Nick Seeler pulled down Xhekaj.
Xhekaj served a minor penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct. More than one penalty likely should have been dealt, and Philadelphia likely should not have gone on the powerplay because of it. The officiating in this sequence was inconsistent; Dach could have served for embellishment, Couturier could have served for roughing, Xhekaj did serve for unsportsmanlike conduct, and Seeler could have earned the same. Primeau did not allow the penalty kill to fail. The Flyers did not convert on the powerplay, finishing 0/3 versus Montréal.
Nick Suzuki put the Canadiens ahead, 1-0, with 9:18 remaining in the first period. Jayden Struble took the initial shot on goal, and the rebound from Kolosov allowed Suzuki to pop the puck into the back of the net.
Travis Sanheim answered with a wrist shot from the point, 1-1, with 2:36 remaining in the first period. Ryan Poehling collected the puck from along the board, shoveled the pass to Sanheim, and with traffic in front of Primeau, the puck found the twine.
Second Period
It is not fair to compare Kolosov to Ivan Fedotov after one NHL start. However, fairness does not eliminate the comparison. Philadelphia is scrambling to find a way to balance and alleviate Sam Ersson. We will return to this in a little bit.
“I thought our goalie [Kolosov] played good. He made some really good saves.” – John Tortorella; 10/27/2024
Brendan Gallagher put Montréal back ahead, 2-1, with 15:12 remaining in the second period. Logan Mailloux shot from the point, and Gallagher crossed through the slot as the puck deflected off his shin, past Kolosov.
Notably, the Canadiens were opportunistic by design. If there was a rebound, chances were Montréal found a way to be in a position to recover. However, that was not the case for the Flyers. They were bereft of second chances, reflecting the structure and hustle in the attacking zone.
“Everybody’s frustrated because they want to win, but I don’t think it’s a frustration that’s overtaking the team. We have so many guys that are struggling offensively, that it’s tough to generate, and it goes back to playing in fives. We’ve got to continue to work at our structure, and it’s not just offensively; it’s coming out of our end zone, it’s how we arrive in our end zone defensively. That’s what gets you to play in fives.” – John Tortorella; 10/27/2024
Jamie Drysdale served a minor penalty for high-sticking. Philadelphia went on the penalty kill, and it proved costly. Cole Caufield picked the puck out of the air, placed it, and took the shot on Kolosov, 3-1, with 7:12 remaining in the second period.
Jake Evans extended the lead for the Canadiens, 4-1, with 3:59 remaining in the second period. Gallagher broke his stick on a pass near the bench in the attacking zone across the ice to Evans. Evans aimed his snap shot past Kolosov, standing as the game-winning goal. Kolosov did not adjust in time, Travis Konecny puck-watched, and Drysdale was late to his defensive slide to Evans.
Matvei Michkov served a minor penalty for slashing. However, the penalty kill was short-lived when Suzuki served a minor penalty for interference. Four-on-four hockey brought each team to the end of the period, but the Flyers finished with a 50% success rate (1/2) on the penalty kill.
Returning to the point about Kolosov, his debut yielded similar results to Fedotov. Fedotov allowed one more goal (5) in his season debut against the Calgary Flames, but he faced more shots (26/31) and maintained a higher save percentage (83.9%). Most recently, against the Washington Capitals, Fedotov allowed four goals in a better comparison to Kolosov.
Neither of these goaltenders proved to be better than the other in the NHL this season, but Kolosov only had this start to base himself. Fedotov did not break the funk in three starts.
Third Period
Noah Cates began face-guarding at the crease to mitigate scoring chances off rebounds. It was not a bad tactic, helping Kolosov clean up his game. Cates checked in the defensive zone, and Tyson Foerster checked in the neutral zone. However, each of those forwards typically forecheck efficiently, lacking heavily throughout the forwards.
Philadelphia could not generate offense in the middle of the attacking zone. Michkov began to force ‘the Michigan’ from behind the net because there were no options in open areas to move the puck for scoring chances. His competition, Lane Hutson, earned a takeaway against Michkov. In the head-to-head sense, Hutson completed his assignment against Michkov in this tilt.
Sanheim scored his second goal, 4-2, with 2:12 remaining in regulation. Morgan Frost was on the ice for this goal, and when Sanheim had the puck on his stick, he did everything a center should be. Nicolas Deslauriers and Joel Farabee each earned an assist on the scoring play as Sanheim carried the puck into the attacking zone, cut across the middle of the ice, and sniped his shot past Primeau.
John Tortorella pulled Kolosov for the extra-attacker. Owen Tippett hit the ice, and he performed a wrap-around. Instead of taking the shot, he located Konecny for the dunk, 4-3, with 1:43 remaining in regulation. Suddenly, the Flyers were very close to potentially forcing overtime after looking down and out for most of the game.
Couturier took the last shot from Philadelphia, but Primeau made the save. The Canadiens held on, 4-3, to improve to 4-4-1, joining a temporary three-way tie for third place in the NHL Atlantic Division. The Flyers remain in sole possession of last place in the NHL Metropolitan Division.
