It was pre-season game number two for the Flyers Training Camp squad. These games are for taking inventory and you really can’t put too much weight on them. The Flyers left a whole lot of talented player behind in Philly as they made this quick trip up north.
The Flyers started with the line of Sean Couturier centering Bobby Brink and Anthony Richard. Coots committed a costly giveaway in the Canadiens end that sent the Habs charging into the Flyers zone with numbers. Cole Caufield beat Samuel Ersson high blocker side after a nifty passing play on the rush.
The Flyers were down 1-0 less than a minute into the game. 9:58 into the 1st period Florian Xhakaj got away with a softy from just above the dot that caught Ersson looking handcuffed. Halfway into the opening period the Flyers were down by two and sputtering.
The Flyers needed to get out of this period and regroup. They were doing a lot of puck watching and they Habs were skating around like they owned the place.
2nd Period
Aleksei Kolosov started the 2nd period in net for the Flyers. He was immediately challenged and made a nice toe save on a wrap-around attempt.
Of course it’s way too early to judge but you have to expect that the Flyers power-play will be under major scrutiny every time they get a man advantage. Their history on the power-play has been so horrid over the past few years. Everyone is hoping the changes in the coaching staff will turn things around.
Early in the second period the Flyers had a minute and nineteen seconds of 5-on-3 power-play time and could not even get a shot through until the final seconds. The 5-on-4 advantage was unsuccessful as well.
Anthony Richard produced a spectacular individual effort to put the Flyers on the board. He crashed through two Montreal defenders and used his speed to pull away in the foot race to go in on a breakaway.
Kaapo Kahkonen had just taken over the Montreal net seconds before Richard welcomed him to the game by scoring a goal on the very first shot he faced. Richard needs to keep his confidence up and continue to insert himself into situations like that. He’s got a lot going for himself and now is the time to show it.
With 3:55 remaining in the 2nd period Nick Suzuki scored a strange looking goal that seemed to go off of a Flyers stick to put the Canadiens ahead by the score of 3-1.
Rodrigo Abols took a tripping penalty that also drew a retaliation from the Habs that ended up giving the Flyers another chance with the man advantage. This power-play looked much better. Owen Tippett ended up scoring on a beautiful far side shot from the left circle. The game went into the final intermission with the Flyers down 3-2.
Third Period
The Flyers looked good at the start of the final period, swarming at times in the Montreal zone. Alex Bump was absolutely stoned on a breakaway early in the period.
Six minutes in things were getting a little physical. Some stiff checks got tempers going eventually Hunter McDonald dropped the gloves and tuned up Luke Tuch.
The Canadiens ended up on the power-play but it was Travis Sanheim who had the best scoring chance of the Montreal man advantage. Sanheim, shorthanded and all alone skated into the Canadiens zone. He had all day to make his move. He did everything the right way but he got totally robbed by Kahkonen.
The Flyers were running out of time. With only minutes left they went on yet another power-play. With one minute left they pulled the goaltender for the extra attacker. They were playing 6-on-4 with an empty net behind them and they just couldn’t control the puck.
An unfortunate giveaway by Jett Luchanko gave the Habs an empty net to shoot at and the elder Xhakaj brother put the cap on the night. Final score 4-2.
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