The Philadelphia Flyers opened the post-All Star break portion of their schedule with a 4-2 win over the free-falling Montreal Canadiens at the Wells Fargo Center on Tuesday night. The game was fast-paced -- sloppy at times, especially early -- and up for grabs for much of the night after the Flyers took an early 2-0 lead and the Habs struck back for the next two goals.
Special teams were crucial to the win for the Flyers. Philadelphia converted on each of its first two power plays and went 2-for-4 on the night. After yielding a Montreal power play goal late in the first period, the Flyers killed off each of their next three penalties. None were more important than a rousing five-minute kill late in the game as Philadelphia protected a one-goal lead and Radko Gudas was booted from the game on a clipping major and game misconduct with 7:44 left in the third period.
“I think we did a good job on the power play to move the puck around and taking what they were giving us," Flyers captain Claude Giroux said. "Obviously, the five minute penalty kill was huge for us. Mase [Steve Mason] did a great job. I really think your best penalty kill is your goalie, and tonight that was the case.”
Wayne Simmonds notched power play and even strength goals for the Flyers; the latter was the game-winner with 8:04 left in the third period. The Flyers also got a power play marker from Brayden Schenn. Jakub Voracek racked up three assists. Matt Read iced the win with an empty net goal in the final minute.
Flyers goaltender Mason, feeling better after the All-Star break but admittedly playing through a lower-body issue that requires an ongoing maintenance plan, played brilliantly in stopping 30 of 32 Montreal shots. He authored numerous outstanding clutch saves, and had no chance on either Montreal goal. One was an unlucky bounce off the end boards out to the other side. The other was a heavily screened shot that also deflected off Philadelphia defenseman Gudas.
Apart from earning an assist on Read's empty-net goal, the return of Sean Couturier to the lineup after a three-game absence helped provide some stability when the Flyers needed it, both on the penalty kill and at even strength.
Mason's Montreal counterpart, Mike Condon, likewise gave his team a chance to win, stopping 32 of 35 shots including numerous tough saves during a 17-shot Philadelphia barrage in the second period. As with Mason, Condon had no realistic chance to stop any of the pucks that got past him. Andrei Markov (power play) and Jeff Petry scored in a losing cause for Montreal.
The game got off a breakneck pace early as the team's traded open chances and odd-man rushes.
“A lot of energy, a little bit sloppy especially early in the hockey game it was sloppy both ways. I think that’s why you saw so many opportunities back and forth. No question from our end we gave up a lot in the first period but we did have energy, there was a little bite to the game right from the outset. Probably tells you what time of the year it is," Flyers head coach Dave Hakstol said.
Added Voracek, "Everybody is rested, you could tell the first period was a kind of shotgun hockey, the first ten minutes I don’t think there was much defense played. Then it settled down and I think it was a pretty game to watch, to be honest, I don’t know how it looked from upstairs but everybody on the bench enjoyed it.”
Gudas landed a hit on P.K. Subban in the offensive zone but, in the process, took himself out of the play and yielded a 2-on-1 rush with Medvedev as the lone defender. Medvedev cut off the passing lane and Mason ended the threat with a save on Devante Smith-Pelly at 1:14.
"They had some chances there in the first, but when you have a 2-on-1 and the goaltender’s main objective is the shooter, you kind of just have to trust your defenseman to take the pass away. Meddy did a great job of trying to take the passing lane away and making sure that I could focus on the shooter there," Mason said.
The Flyers got the game's first power play at 4:14 after a long delayed penalty on Nathan Beaulieu for in the Montreal defensive zone. The first unit held the puck in the offensive zone the whole time and generated considerable pressure, which the second unit carried over. Finally, late in the advantage, the first unit returned and converted a goal on a beautiful tic-tac-toe puck movement sequence.
A wide-open Simmonds finished it off with a tap-in near the right post for his 15th goal and seventh power play goal of the season. Brayden Schenn and Jakub Voracek got the assists at 6:11 to give Philadelphia a 1-0 lead.
"All those guys made a great play," Simmonds said. "I went to the net with my stick on the ice and Brayden made a great pass for a tap-in back door."
Ryan White and Dale Weise went off on roughing minors near the Montreal bench at 7:17. Play moved to 4-on-4. It didn't take Montreal long to get its second 2-on-1 rush of the period -- once again wth Gudas caught out of position -- but Medvedev again cut off the passing lane and Mason made the save on Tomas Plekanec.
Mason made a spectacular one-on-one save against on another Montreal counterattack as he denied Alex Galchenyuk at 11:28 to keep the score 1-0.
The Flyers went back to the power play at 15:20 on a defensive zone interference penalty by . This time it didnt take long to turn it into a power play goal.Giroux won a left circle faceoff back to Shayne Gostisbehere, who fed to Voracek on the right wing. Schenn tipped the puck home in front for his 13th goal of the season and seventh power play goal. Assists went to Voracek and Gostisbehere at 15:26 as the Flyers extended the lead to 2-0.
"Right now we have a shoot mentality. If we all keep shooting it's going to open up other things and that's what it's been doing. It's a good effort right now. You score two goals and you want to keep going," Gostisbehere said.
Very shortly thereafter, Chris VandeVelde was called for tripping, and Montreal went on its first power play at 16:47. The Habs took advantage as a Galchenyuk right circle one-time shot banked off the end wall and bounced right to Andrei Markov near the opposite post. Mason, who had come way out to challenge Galchenyuk, was helpless at this point. Markov's tight-angle shot bounced in off the right post at 18:18 as the goalie tried to scramble back into his crease. Subban got the other assist as the Habs cut the gap to 2-1.
Shots in the first period were 15-11 in Montreal's favor.
Early in the second period, Mason made a tough skate save on at Smith-Pelly. Shortly thereafter, however, Montreal tied the game at 2-2 at the 2:30 mark. Petry's shot through two layers of screens (and off the back of Gudas' jersey), deflected off the post and in. Beaulieu and Smith-Pelly got the assists.
The Flyers generated a 3-on-1 rush on the shift after the goal but the play went awry.Philly went to its third power play at on a hold behind the Montreal net by Mark Barberio 4:03. Mason stopped a shorthanded semi-breakaway by Pacioretty.
Philly had its second 3-on-1 rush of the period but Condon denied Mark Streit's shot and Philly couldn't get to the loose puck in time.
At 12:39, Brendan Gallagher and Gostisbehere received coincidental roughing penalties on an odd sequence -- the referee's arm went up, Condon started to skate off but then went back as the Flyers controlled the puck and then the whistle blew as the Habs got possession. The Flyers received a brief 4-on-3 as they applied offensive zone pressure and Tomas Fleischmann received a high sticking minor in the defensive zone.
During the 5-on-4 portion of the power play, a fortunate bounce came right out in the slot to a wide open Schenn. Condon made the save. As the penalty expired, an open Streit pinched it to receive a pass in great shooting position and shot over the net. Shortly after that, VandeVelde was unable to finish an open chance from the right circle.
Read was called for a seemingly embellished trip off an offensive zone faceoff circle at 17:27. Couturier got a shorthanded rush up the right wing but Condon made the save. Mason and the Flyers caught a break as a wide open Beaulieu shot the puck right into the goalie with half an open net staring at him.
Shots in the second period were 17-7 Flyers; 28-22 Flyers through 40 minutes.
In the opening minute of the third period, Mason corralled a side-angle shot after the Flyers were unable to clear the zone. At the 53-second mark, a tussle broken in the Montreal zone between Simmonds and Subban after Simmonds was cross-checked to the ice a second or two after a slash by Simmonds behind the net. Out of the scrum, a roughing minor on Voracek was the lone call. A furious Voracek kicked the penalty box door. The refs let it slide and did not tack on an unsportmanlike conduct penalty.
With 1:04 remaining on the Montreal powerplay, Mason squared up and deadened a point shot by Subban with his pads. The Flyers killed off the rest of the penalty.
The Flyers retook the lead at 11:56. Voracek took the puck out in front of the net and found Simmonds in the slot. Simmonds bagged his second goal of the game and 16th of the season as he scored from point blank range. Giroux got the secondary assist as Philly grabbed a 3-2 lead,
With 7:44 left in regulation, Lucas Lessio had to be helped off the ice after a submarine hit by Gudas. After a lengthy timeout on the ice, he Flyers' defenseman received a clipping major and game misconduct. Gudas smashed and broke his stick as he charged up the tunnel.
"I was trying to figure out what the hell happened, and I obviously put two and two together with Gudie," Mason said.
VandeVelde drew iron on a long-side shorthanded bid with about 3:30 left on the kill. Then Couturier was denied on a shorthanded bid and received a slash for his trouble. With 1:14 left on the penalty clock, Mason made a clutch stop on Tomas Plekanec from the right circle, with no rebound. Off the next draw, Mason stopped a Subban one-timer. Streit blocked a shot in the final 30 seconds, and the Flyers survived.
"That was just a fantastic kill all around," Mason said. "The type of shot blocking that went on, the compete to take time and space away, two huge chances for [us] by Coots and, I think Vanny, maybe. Just a great kill, and at a huge point in the game, too."
With two minutes left in regulation, Pacioretty broke into the offensive zone with speed and his backhanded try was denied by Mason with exactly two minutes left on the clock.
Michel Therrien pulled Condon for an extra attacker in the final two minutes. Simmonds made sure to gain the red line before attempting an empty net bid for a hat trick but missed the target. On the next shift, Couturier missed from the red line.
The third time was the charm. Read hit the net from the left side half boards after Couturier passed him the puck. VandeVelde got the secondary assist on Read's eighth goal of the season.
Shots in the third period were 10-8 in Montreal's favor; 36-32 Flyers for the game.
Hakstol said after the game that the team will hold an optional practice on Wednesday at the Skate Zone in Voorhees, NJ. On Thursday, the team begins a very difficult three-in-four gauntlet that will see them on road in Nashville, followed by a Saturday home matinee against the New York Rangers and a noon road game against the NHL-leading Washington Capitals on Sunday.
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In celebration of nearly a half-century of Flyers hockey, the Flyers Alumni Association is bringing together players representing every decade of franchise history for a special Orange vs. Black intrasquad Alumni game on Feb. 5, 2016 at 7 p.m. ET. The game will be held at the Santander Arena in Reading, PA, home of the Philadelphia Flyers' ECHL affiliate, the Reading Royals.
For a full rundown of the playing rosters, coaching staffs and special guests,
click here.
The game and all premium packages -- afternoon youth hockey skills clinic run by select Alumni, a pre-game dinner buffet and a post-game VIP meet-and-greet with all of the Alumni -- have sold out. However due to high demand, a handful of extra single-seat tickets have been released. Fewer than 60 single-seats tickets remained as of Tuesday evening.
For game ticket information,
click here.
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