Photo Credits: FNG’s Rob Windfelder
To say tonight’s match up between the Flyers and the Montreal Canadiens was a must win for the struggling Philadelphia hockey club is in no way an understatement. But the standings are so tight right now that it’s still potentially an overstatement as well. Five teams in the Metropolitan Division are jammed into a tight and tiny six point spread. The Flyers have just three games left in the regular season after tonight and their fate will depend in part on how the other teams in this tight pack perform over this final stretch.
The Canadiens 29-36-12 host tonight’s game against the Flyers 36-31-11 at the Bell Centre in Montreal. The last time these two teams met was March 28th in Philly. The Canadiens have lost 4 of their last 5 since that night. The Flyers have lost 7 straight and would absolutely love to turn it around right here.
Philly vs Montreal
Samuel Ersson started in net for the Flyers tonight it was his 29th start in the last 35 games. Montreal started right at it, wheeling away in the Flyers zone and getting on the board first. Mike Matheson fired from the slot through a ton of traffic catching both the Flyers their goaltender by surprise just 1:05 into the game.
Owen Tippet fired a shot on the Flyers net from the right circle but Ersson got a glove on it but bobbled the rebound a bit. …yep you read that right.
Ersson stoned Juraj Slafkovsky short side. Ersson had a strong 1st period despite the early goal. Montreal had the best chance on the Flyers only power play. Christian Dvorak and Rafael Harvey-Pinard had 2-on-1 that was swallowed up. Jamie Drysdale had avery dangerous turnover in the Flyers end but was bailed out by a fine defensive play from Nick Seeler. Owen Tippett had a couple nice chances and the Habs put on some big-time pressure towards the end of the 1st period but nothing came of any of that and the teams went to the first intermission tied at one.
Wait for it
The Flyers showed up at the beginning of the 2nd period putting in all the hard work along the boards and in front of the net. Ryan Poehling stood out in both of those areas. Bobby Brink fed Morgan Frost on a 2-on-1 where Frost was absolutely robbed glove side by Canadiens netminder Sam Montembeault. Owen Tippett was an offensive force in the Montreal zone. The Flyers were getting tons of chances but none of them finding the net.
Crash
And then the entire game changed dramatically. As soon as the Flyers pressure lapsed the Canadiens took advantage. Montreal had been going for the slam dunk from the side of the net all night and finally nailed it. Nick Suzuki to Juraj Slafkovsky, no coverage, easy in.
The Flyers were in a must win situation at a time when they are not scoring many goals. With 9:14 left in the period Brendan Gallagher deflected a Johnathan Kovacevic shot into the Flyers net. The goal was looked at to see if a high stick was involved, it wasn’t. 3-0 Habs.
At 8:36 Juraj Slafkovsky went high blocker side on Ersson to complete the hattrick. The Flyers found themselves halfway into a must win situation down 4-0 with half the game to go. The Habs faithful were bringing the house down.
The hits kept coming at 7:18 Josh Anderson stormed down the right hand side and forced his way past Nick Seeler, He put a shot on Ersson and his continued momentum took Ersson and the puck into the Flyers net with him. This goal also stood. 5-0 Montreal.
Ersson’s night came to an end as Ivan Fedotov took over in the Philadelphia net. The Flyers had a nice rush and pile up in front of the Montreal net that ended with Morgan Frost hitting the post. The snake bite is in monster mode at this point. The crowd at the Bell Center is as loud as can be. There was a festive party atmosphere as the onslaught continued. Montreal’s Christian Dvorak started the sheet on Fedotov at 15:27 making it 6-0.
The shots on goal were almost dead even up to the end of the 2nd period. The Flyers desperately needed to get something on the board to stop the bleeding but nothing would go. They spent the final moments of the period passing too much in the Montreal zone looking for some way to pierce the Canadiens.
The Flyers huddled with their captain Sean Couturier at the blue line before the opening faceoff of the final period. If you didn’t know any better you would think this was a normal ice hockey game. Both teams were getting chances, the shots were tied, it looked like a pretty even match as long as you didn’t look at the scoreboard.
Ryan Poehling ruined the shutout early in the 3rd period. He made an interesting keep-in then crept in to the circle, gripped it and ripped far side to put the Flyers on the board. The Canadiens made it 7-1 as the Flyers got to see every bad bounce in the book right in front of their own net. Christian Dvorak ended up with the pin-ball on his stick and an empty net to shoot at. The Habs Fans were doing the wave. The roof completely blew off the place as Brendan Gallagher beat Fedotov five hole to make it 8-1. And they still had eight minutes to go.
It is very hard to watch this Flyers team right now and figure out how they came as far as they did this season. Almost nothing goes their way. Sure they are being outplayed but so much of it is just plain bad luck. It took Joel Farabee a bunch of whacks at a puck in front of the Montreal net until it finally went in making it 8-2 Montreal. Olle Lycksell had been whacking away at it for a while first. Nothing is coming easy for the Flyers and it hasn’t been for quite some time now.
Ryan Poehling deflected a shot passed the Montreal netminder to make it 8-3 which brought an end to the crowd singing that na na na na good bye song. The game on the ice had devolved into a mess. The Canadiens made it 9-3 on a 2-on-1 where Brendan Gallagher totally sold Fedotov on a commitment that left the net gaping for Joel Armia to put it away.
The mood in the Flyers locker room after this game could not be any lower. The team looking down, apologetically, silently. Head coach John Tortorella was actually much more upbeat about the whole situation then the team was. He spoke more on the theme that this is a good group that does not yet know how to take it to the next level. He also clearly takes responsibility for that. He said he is frustrated for his team and he is proud of them for coming as far as they did this season.
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This feels like the end of things even though it is not. The end is surely getting closer, but that can be said about absolutely everything in life. So we will see what the last three games have in store for the Flyers and how things shape up in the Metro. …C’est la vie.
Awesome pics Rob – especially the one at center ice!