Photo Credits: FNG’s Rob Windfelder
Flyers, Canadiens, Bell Centre in Montreal. There’s a lot to cover here so lets go! The Habs have been outscoring their opponents in the opening period like wild fire so far this season, but not tonight.
Flyers came out with a bang. Just 1:56 into the contest Bobby Brink deflected a Travis Sanheim pass up and past Sam Montembeau to get things started.
Instead of taking the time to stop the puck before teeing it up Brink simply redirected the pass with his stick in an open position to direct the puck towards the net with a lot of lift. He caught the goaltender by surprise high blocker side. Perfect. 1-0 Flyers.
At 6:07 the Flyers had a two man advantage for 1:32 and they really made the most of it. Cam York accepted a pass from Trevor Zegras and blasted a shot from the point. Power-play goal. 2-0 Flyers.
This left the Orange and Black with some change left over on the one man advantage. Zegras, to Cates, to Brink who snapped in his second goal of the tilt. 7:50 into this game it was 3-0 in favor of the visiting Philadelphia Flyers.
The Canadiens had an opportunity with the man advantage when Nick Seeler was docked for a micro-interference. The Flyers #1 NHL penalty kill (that sure is fun to say) successfully completed their 22nd consecutive kill.
Garnet Hathaway deserves credit for playing a regular role in the Flyers PK this season which has been stellar. Hathaway deserves more credit than he gets in general.
Hathaway also got away with playing an extended period of time digging for a puck in the corner without his helmet on. You’re allowed to finish what you started before you need to get off the ice for not having a hat on. Hathaway surely pushed this rule to the limit. Craig MacTavish would have been proud.
Not so fast
The Habs really needed to bounce back in the 2nd period and they sure did. 3:12 into the period Kirby Dach snapped a rebound past Flyers goalie Dan Vladar. The goal sparked new life into Montreal. Philly responded by taking a penalty.
The Canadiens scored their second goal of the game on the power-play one minute and three seconds after their first. Caufield, playing in his 300th NHL game, passed the puck to Demidov. All focus went to Demidov who dished it off to Suzuki who slammed it home. 3-2 Flyers.
The game really opened up after that. Things were getting a bit more physical and a lot more end to end.
Nick Suzuki welcomed his former teammate Christian Dvorak back to the Bell Centre by leveling him with a clean hit at center ice. That had to be fun to do but it also led directly to a breakaway by Owen Tippett. Sam Montembeau made the big save.
Montembeau then stopped Brink on a break looking for the hattrick. Jake Evens hit the post behind Vladar on a breakaway. The pace was hectic and the chances abundant at both ends of the ice.
Montreal tied the game at three when Kirby Dach put a snap-shot past the Flyers goaltender 13:28 into the very eventful middle period. It was Dach’s second goal of the night.
The Flyers gave up another power-play goal this time to Ivan Demidov goes top shelf with 4:04 left. At this point the Flyers were outshooting Montreal 27-9 but still found themselves down by a goal. 4-3 Habs.
The period ended in a frenzy with the Flyers on the power-play Vladar was forced to make a spectacular save on a shorthanded attempt. Dvorak got stoned on a dunk. Travis Konecny came within inches. But finally the horn put an end to the chaos and gave both teams some time to sit and think about what they had done.
Third Period
Flyers owned the 1st period the Habs owned the 2nd. Both teams were on the hunt for momentum in the 3rd. The period started with Nicolas Deslauriers fighting Arber Xhekaj. Heavyweight bout, D-Low unanimous decision.
The Flyers continued throwing pucks at the Montreal net. A couple great chances on the power-play. You have to give the Canadiens netminder credit he made some really clutch stops while facing a barrage of Flyers shots in this game.
Nikita Grebenkin could not have picked a better time to score his 1st NHL goal. He caught the Montreal goaltender without his paddle and just fired stick side from the top of the slot to tie the game at four with 9:09 left in regulation.
Both teams were pushing hard in the final five minutes of regulation with Montreal relentlessly controlling most of the play. Still the Flyers outshot the Habs in regulation 40-18.
OT
The extra session saw Dan Vladar making a couple huge saves and a tremendous poke check to cut off what may have become the last pass of the game.
Montreal took a slashing penalty with just six seconds left. The faceoff was in their end and they put out Nick Suzuki to face Sean Couturier. Suzuki won the face off but the puck eventually ended up on the stick of Travis Konecny. TK took a slapper that was blocked by Suzuki as time ran out.
Shootout
Demidov was stopped by Vladar who gave him the far side only to close it up at the last second by extending the right pad.
Trevor Zegras came in super slow building in speed and using his flashy hands to keep Montembeau guessing before burying it five hole.
Vladar patiently watched Caufield’s moves as he waited him out and easily controlled his eventual five hole attempt.
Montembeau stopped Michkov.
Dan Vladar was very committed to his left side but dove across using his stick to steer Nick Suzuki too far past the open side of the net. He never really got the shot off and that’s all the Flyers needed to leave the birthplace of the sport with two points in their pocket.
It wasn’t easy but the Philadelphia Flyers just won a game on the road for the first time this season.
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