The Philadelphia Flyers started a two-game road trip Tuesday night with a game against the Montreal Canadiens. Dan Vladar got the start in net, and Emil Andrae jumped in on defense after being called up once more from Lehigh Valley. Tyson Foerster remained out with a lower-body injury. Bobby Brink scored two goals early, but the Flyers would blow a three-zero lead. Vladar had another rough night in net, but helped secure the victory with a few big stops in a shoot-out. The orange and black improved to 7-5-1 on the season.
The Flyers took a 1-0 lead just 1:56 into the first period thanks to Brink. Brink redirected Travis Sanheim’s pass from the blue line past Canadiens goaltender Sam Montembeault. Montembeault was screened in front by Sean Couturier. Sanheim and Cam York picked up assists.
Mike Matheson was called for delay of game at the 5:39 mark of the first, which gave the Flyers the game’s first power play. It became a two-man advantage at the 6:07 mark as Noah Dobson got called for cross-checking. The Flyers took advantage of this twice.
York scored on the two-man advantage at the 7:07 mark of the first period to give the Flyers a 2-0 lead. Trevor Zegras fed him with a behind-the-back pass, and York put a slapshot past the glove of Montembeault. Zegras and Travis Konecny were awarded assists.
The Flyers made it 3-0 in their favor on the power play that followed at the 7:50 mark of the first. Montembeault made the initial pad save on Zegras but allowed a huge rebound. Brink got to the rebound and put a snapshot into the net after the puck went off Noah Cates’s stick. This was Brink’s second goal of the night. Cates and Zegras tallied assists.
The Canadiens got their first power play at the 9:08 mark of the first period as Nick Seeler got called for interference. The Flyers did a nice job of stripping the puck away and clearing it. Cole Caufield came close to scoring, but his shot just missed wide.
Kirby Dach got the Canadiens on the board at the 3:12 mark of the second period. Dobson’s shot took a lucky bounce off the boards and went straight to the stick of Dach. Dach then put a snapshot past Vladar. Assists went to Dobson and Brendan Gallagher. This made the score 3-1 Flyers.
Sanheim gave the Canadiens their second power play at the 3:28 mark of the second as he was called for tripping. They capitalized on this opportunity to get themselves within one. Ivan Demidov made a pass across the ice, and Nick Suzuki put a snapshot into a semi-wide-open net as Vladar thought Demidov was going to shoot. Demidov and Caufield were given assists. The Flyers still led 3-2.
The Canadiens went on their third power play at the 7:28 mark of the second period as Couturier got called for tripping. Garnet Hathaway and Juraj Slafkovsky were both called for roughing, but it didn’t change anything. Vladar had to make a big save from in front, and Konecny and Owen Tippett had chances while shorthanded.
The Flyers got their third power play at the 10:32 mark of the second as Joseph Veleno was called for an illegal check to the head. They didn’t capitalize on this one, but had a few good chances. Brink had a chance as he drove to the net, and Tippett just missed on a shot. Jake Evans had a chance on the breakaway while shorthanded, but Vladar stood his ground.
Dach scored his second goal of the night to tie the game up at three at the 13:28 mark of the second period. Lane Hutson made a pass from behind the net, and Dach got a snapshot off that just squeaked through Vladar on the short side. Hutson and Jayden Struble tallied assists.
The Canadiens went on their fourth power play at the 15:22 mark of the second as Brink got called for tripping. Demidov capitalized to give them a 4-3 lead. Slafkovsky fed him with a pass and Demidov sent a snapshot that went past the glove of Vladar. Slafkovsky and Hutson picked up assists.
The Flyers got their fourth power play at the 17:31 mark of the second period as Dach was called for holding. The Canadiens did a nice job of intercepting passes and clearing the puck. The Flyers had trouble setting up, but Montembeault had to make a few big saves towards the end.
Nicolas Deslauriers and Arber Xhekaj dropped the gloves at the 2:30 mark of the third. Both landed some big punches, but Deslauriers looked to have landed the biggest.
Caufield was called for boarding at the 6:25 mark of the third period, which gave the Flyers their fifth power play. They didn’t capitalize yet again. Tippett had a big chance from in tight, but Montembeault continued to come up big.
Nikita Grebenkin scored his first goal in the NHL at the 10:51 mark of the third. This tied the game up at four. Konecny passed the puck to the high slot, and Grebenkin put a wrist shot past Montembeault. Konecny and Jamie Drysdale were given assists.
No one else scored in regulation, so the game went to overtime. Both teams had high-scoring chances, but both goaltenders had all the answers. The Flyers got their sixth power play with only two seconds remaining as Demidov was called for slashing. Suzuki came up with a huge shot block on Konecny.
The game then went to a shootout. The Flyers sent out Zegras and Matvei Michkov. The Canadiens sent out Demidov, Caufield, and Suzuki. Zegras was the only one to score, giving the Flyers the 5-4 victory.
Flyers went two for six on the power play and killed off two of the four Canadien man-advantages.
Vladar saved 16 of 20 shots, giving him an .800 save percentage.
Goal Summary
1st Period:
Brink (4) Assists: Sanheim (4), York (6)
York (1) (Power Play) Assists: Zegras (10), Konecny (5)
Brink (5) (Power Play) Assists: Cates (6), Zegras (11)
2nd Period:
Dach (2) Assists: Dobson (7), Gallagher (7)
Suzuki (3) (Power Play) Assists: Demidov (8), Caufield (6)
Dach (3) Assists: Hutson (11), Struble (3)
Demidov (4) (Power Play) Assists: Slafkovsky (2), Hutson (12)
3rd Period:
Grebenkin (1) Assists: Konecny (6), Drysdale (4)
Overtime:
No goals
Shoot-out:
Zegras
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