The Philadelphia Flyers traveled up to Montreal to take on the Canadiens in their second game of a four-game road trip. Dan Vladar got the start in net. Rasmus Ristolainen made his season debut with Ty Murchison being sent back to Lehigh Valley. Nicolas Deslauriers also came in for Nikita Grebenkin. They’d give up the first goal but would never trail again. Vladar stood on his head, and the offense helped him out. The orange and black got back on the winning track and improved to 17-9-6 on the season.
The Flyers got the game’s first power play at the 9:04 mark of the first period as Ivan Demidov got called for cross-checking. They had a few good chances in a scrum in front of the net, but no shots got past Canadiens goaltender Jacob Fowler. Two shots on goal were recorded.
Alexandre Carrier was called for tripping at the 13:31 mark of the first, which gave the Flyers their second power play. They missed on a rebound try, and Fowler saw a shot all the way by Jamie Drysdale.
The Canadiens took a 1-0 lead at the 19:00 mark of the first period courtesy of Alexandre Texier. Jake Evans fed him with a pass to the slot, and Texier put a snap shot past Vladar. A turnover by Travis Konecny allowed this to happen. Evans and Josh Anderson tallied assists.
Carl Grundstrom tied the game up at one for the Flyers just 39 seconds later. Owen Tippett, from just below the right circle, made a pass to Grundstrom, who was at the left circle. Grundstrom then put a snap shot past the blocker of Fowler. Tippett and Sean Couturier picked up assists.
Couturier got called for holding the stick at the 3:32 mark of the second period. This gave the Canadiens their first power play. The Flyers did a great job of getting into shooting lanes to block shots and clearing the puck down the ice. Demidov was the only one to record a shot on net.
The Flyers took a 2-1 lead at the 6:26 mark of the second thanks to Trevor Zegras. He went on a two-on-one with Konecny, and Zegras put a snap shot through the legs (five-hole) of Fowler. Konecny and Emil Andrae were given assists.
Bobby Brink gave the Flyers a 3-1 lead at the 19:10 mark of the second period. Fowler left the puck behind the net, and Matvei Michkov stole it. He then found Brink in the slot from below the goal line, and Brink put a snap shot into a wide-open net. Michkov received the only assist.
Brendan Gallagher was called for high-sticking at the 13:51 mark of the third period, which gave the Flyers their third power play. Not long after, Zegras and Anderson were both called for roughing. The Flyers stayed on the power play, however. Michkov turned the puck over twice, and the Canadiens had a few scoring chances while shorthanded. The Flyers didn’t record any shots on net.
The Canadiens pulled Fowler with 3:26 left in the third in favor of the extra attacker, with them down by two. It backfired, however, as Konecny would score an empty-netter at the 18:25 mark. He took a pass from Christian Dvorak and put a snap shot into the empty net from the neutral zone. Assists went to Dvorak and Couturier. This gave the Flyers a 4-1 lead.
Flyers went zero for three on the power play and killed off the only Canadiens man advantage.
Vladar saved 21 of 22 shots, giving him a .955 save percentage.
Goal Summary
1st Period:
Texier (3) Assists: Evans (5), Anderson (4)
Grundstrom (3) Assists: Tippett (11), Couturier (13)
2nd Period:
Zegras (14) Assists: Konecny (20), Andrae (7)
Brink (9) Assists: Michkov (10)
3rd Period:
Konecny (9) (Empty Net) Assists: Dvorak (16), Couturier (14)
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