The Philadelphia Flyers are moving on to the Eastern Conference Semifinals. On Friday night, the Flyers closed out their series with the Montreal Canadiens with a 3-2 victory in Game 6 at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto.
A pair of quick goals to give the Flyers a two-goal lead at 2-0 gave the Flyers the luxury to play ahead all night despite Montreal pushing and closing the gap on two occasions.The Flyers improved to 7-0 when scoring the first goal in the playoffs as well as 7-0 when leading after two periods.
Ivan Provorov (1st goal of the playoffs) needed just 28 seconds from the opening faceoff give the Flyers a 1-0 lead. Less than five minutes later, Kevin Hayes (1st) doubled the lead but Nick Suzuki's rebound power-play goal (3rd) cut the gap to 2-1.
Michael Raffl second goal of the series and third of the playoffs restored a two-goal lead for the Flyers at 4:26 of the second period. Suzuki answered right back with his second goal of the game at 4:26. That was as close as Montreal got.
Carter Hart earned the win, stopping 31 of 33 shots. Carey Price took the loss with 14 saves on 17 shots.
Hart relished the gracious words he received from childhood idol Hart in the postgame handshake line. Price made clear to the 22-year-old Hart that the respect is mutual.
"Definitely a really special moment. Obviously I look up to him. For him to come over and congratulate you in the handshake line. He said, 'Hell of a series' and that he’ll be watching. That’s pretty special and definitely something I won’t forget."
Provorov logged 24:39 of ice time to lead the Flyers. Justin Braun led all players in the game with six blocked shots. Jakub Voracek recorded an assist to give him seven points in the series (four goals, three assists) and six points (three goals) between Games 3 to 6. Hayes recorded a goal and an assist to finished the series with seven points (one goal, six assists) in the series.
Over the course of the series. Montreal showed why they were the No. 2 puck possession team in NHL this season. They were a real tough out for that reason but are still a bit lacking in their ability to turn chances into goals. Strong goaltending from Hart and good closeouts in 3rd pds pulled the Flyers through.
"I think our best periods have been in the third," Flyers head coach Alain Vigneault said.
"I found sort of a blueprint to do a good job of shutting teams down. It paid off for us tonight. It was a hard fought series. Montreal is a hardworking team, a quick team. They had their D’s way more involved in our series than in what we had seen in against Pittsburgh. Their goaltender gave them a chance every game and it was real tough at forechecking because of his puckhandling. It was tough series. Found a way to win. That’s what the game is about."
Shayne Gostisbehere returned to the Flyers lineup, replacing the suspended Matt Niskanen (who is eligible to return for Game 1 of the ECSF). Gostisbehere had a strong game in the series clincher. James van Riemsdyk also returned, replacing Connor Bunnaman. Claude Giroux moved back from left wing to center and played on a line with Scott Laughton and JVR.
"It’s definitely cool. When you get back to the bench and the boys are barking, saying great job, it’s pretty awesome, especially for some you didn’t even touch the puck. I think it’s pretty awesome. Just our team game in general, we’re all pulling on the same side of the rope here. It’s pretty fun to see," Gostisbehere said.
Provorov's goal off a Hayes faceoff was a seeing eye puck that deflected off Shea Weber and into the net at the 28-second mark. The Flyers made it 2-0 at 5:23. Shayne Gostisbehere generated the entry, Derek Grant made a pass out to Hayes and the big center patiently waited out Price and threaded home the puck.
Later, there were prime scoring chances for Scott Laughton and James van RIemsdyk (with Weber in the box for cross-checking Jakub Voracek). The Habs survived both.
At 10:03, Suzuki's power play goal was scored in close off a Joel Armia rebound from the slot. Montreal got better as the period moved along and began to outbattle the Flyers in 50-50 situations. The Canadiens hurt themselves with bad penalties but were able to get through them.
First period shots were 10-6 Montreal (attempts 19-14 Montreal). The Flyers uncharacteristically lost 12 of 18 faceoffs.
The second period got off to a physical start, with several crunching hits. Konecny was unable to finish off a breakaway as he tried to go low to the stick side and missed the net. The Flyers scored on their first shot of the period, as Montreal paid the price for a turnover. Raffl made good plays at both ends. A give-and-go developed with Hayes feeding Voracek (and continuing to go to the net) and Voracek finding open trailer Sanheim. Sanheim's shot tipped off Raffl, the post, Price and into the net at 4:26 for a brief 3-1 lead. It would be 9:28 later before the Flyers would get their next shot on goal (power play).
The Canadiens dominated puck possession for most the period, and the Flyers narrowly survived a penalty kill as well as an unrelenting Montreal forecheck. Finally, Laughton got past Max Domi and carried the puck straight up ice, forcing Domi into a penalty. The Canadiens pressured again late.
Second period shots were 10-6 Montreal (20-12 overall, attempts 42-25 overall for the Habs).
Philly staged a strong closeout to the game and series, similar to Games 1, 3, and 4. Hart had to step up with a few key saves and did so flawlessly. For the most part, the Habs had one-and-done forays and were largely pushed to the perimeter.
The Flyers will now play the No. 6 seeded NY Islanders. The No. 2-Tampa Bay Lightning play the 4th-seeded Boston Bruins.
"They play tight. Good defensively. When they have opportunities, they try to score. I think we just got to play our game. Keep playing fast. Control the puck and not give them any chances to score," Provorov said of the Islanders.
FLYERS - ISLANDERS SERIES SCHEDULE
Mon, Aug 24 -- 7 PM Wed, Aug 26 -- 3 PM Thu, Aug 27 -- 7 PM Sat, Aug 29 -- Noon Mon, Aug 31 -- TBD * Wed, Sep 2 -- TBD * Thu. Sep 3 -- TBD *
* If necessary