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Wrap: Flyers Mauled in Montreal, 5-1

February 21, 2019, 11:05 PM ET [434 Comments]
Bill Meltzer
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Wrap: Flyers Mauled in Montreal, 5-1

For the second straight game, the Flyers dug themselves a quick 3-0 hole and were unable to recover. Philly was outplayed in all three periods in a 5-1 loss in Montreal, and richly deserved to have lost back-to-back games for the first time since an 0-6-2 spell following the Christmas break.

For the second straight game, Carter Hart lasted less than 11 minutes and stopped only six of nine shots. He was relieved again by Brian Elliott, who made multiple tough saves among the 29 saves he made on 31 shots. Michael Raffl scored the lone Flyers goal (5th); a deflection goal that broke up a shutout bid midway through the third period.

There were very few bright spots for the Flyers on Thursday. One was Philippe Myers, who had a strong all-around performance in 20:28 of ice time in his second game in the NHL.

Brendan Gallagher notched his first career NHL hat trick, tallying his 24th, 25th and 26th goals of the season. Impressive rookie center Jesperi Kotkaniemi notched his 11th goal of the season. Tomas Tatar (20th) made it 5-0 early in the third period.

Veteran Canadiens star goaltender Carey Price wasn't at his sharpest early in the game but soon was locked in, and played a strong game in keeping the Flyers at bay whenever they had a chance to start climbing back into the game. Price stopped 29 of 30 shots, with 11 saves coming in the third period.

The first two Canadiens goals, scored at 0:58 and 3:11 of the first period, were fairly similar in how they developed: The Habs carved up the Flyers neutral zone forecheck, had clean entries with speed, created mini 2-on-1s and scored from the right circle. On the first, scored by Gallagher from the top of the circle off a feed from Phillip Danault, Hart was perhaps partially screened by Ivan Provorov but it was not an unstoppable shot. On the second, scored from near the hash marks by Kotkaniemi off a Paul Byron pass, it was have taken a 10-bell save.

The real killer was Gallagher's second goal, scored at 10:33 of the first period to make it a 3-0 game. Gallagher from an impossible angle -- the short side seemed to be sealed by Hart's skate but the puck went off Hart's skate blade and leaked in to make it 3-0. It was basically a fluke goal with Hart using a RVH technique on the play that he said after the game is always how he seals the post on such plays and had never previously been beaten like that.

Regardless,Hart made his second straight early exit (3 GA on 9 shots). He was relieved by Elliott.

The Flyers, who went 0-for-3 on the power play and did not have to kill any penalties on this night, had two golden scoring chances early in the second period but neither Wayne Simmonds nor Sean Couturier (who uncharacteristically finished the night without a shot on goal) were able to find the mark. Shortly after the power play expired, the Habs made it 4-0. Gallagher scored on a backhander from the slot at 2:56 to complete his hat trick.

At 6:48, the Habs outworked their Flyers counterparts both behind and in front of the net and were rewarded with yet another goal. Tatar took a centering feed from Max Domi and beat Elliott.

The rest of the game was fairly nondescript. The Flyers had some scoring chances but, for the most part, the Habs were never in any danger. Raffl's deflection goal of a Shayne Gostisbehere shot made it 5-1 and, immediately thereafter, a mix-up around the Habs net nearly resulted in a Jakub Voracek goal but the Canadiens dodged the bullet and cruised the rest of the way with Price erasing further anything that developed.

With the loss, the Flyers fell 10 points behind Montreal in the race for the upper wildcard spot in the Eastern Conference. With Pittsburgh losing 4-0 to San Jose, the third-place team in the Metro remains eight points and a 31-26 ROW tiebreaker edge ahead of the Flyers, heading into the Stadium Series on Saturday.

The Carolina Hurricanes won on Thursday, moving into the lower wildcard spot in the East, seven points plus a 31-26 ROW tiebreaker edge ahead of the Flyers. The Columbus Blue Jackets, one point behind Carolina and six ahead of the Flyers with two games in hand over both the Canes and Philly, were idle on Thursday.

The Flyers will have a 6 p.m. practice at Lincoln Financial Field on Friday (the Penguins practice at 4 p.m.) in preparation for Saturday's outdoor game. Monday is the NHL trade deadline.
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