Postgame 5: Flyers  Defeat Habs, 6-4

With Brad Shaw assuming interim head coaching responsibilities for the remainder of the season, the Philadelphia Flyers beat the Montreal Canadiens, 6-4, at Wells Fargo Center on Thursday evening. Two goals apiece from Matvei Michkov and Sean Couturier led the way for Philly.

The Flyers dressed a full complement of skaters for the game: 12 forwards and six defensemen. However, defenseman Cam York did not skate a shift in the game. Defenseman Travis Sanheim logged 30:06 of ice time with a five-man rotation on the blueline.

Matvei Michkov (21st goal of the season) gave the Flyers a 1-0 lead at 1:55 of the first period. Sean Couturier won a puck battle down low and passed to Travis Konecny. The Flyers' leading scorer shuttled the puck over to Michkov at point blank range.

Finding ample time and space as he hit the blueline on the rush. Alex Newhook (14th) tied the score at 1-1 on a snap shot past Samuel Ersson. The assists went to David Savard and rookie defenseman Lane Hutson (50th assist of the season) at 7:55.

The Flyers' fourth line chipped in a goal for a 2-1 lead at 10:13. Olle Lycksell found Nic Deslauriers (1st) in front for a goal from the veteran tough guy. The secondary assist went to Rodrigo Abols.

Taking a drop pass from Jakob Pelletier, Michkov put the puck at the net where it was directed home by Sean Couturier (13th) for a 3-1 edge at 11:15. The apples were collected by Michkov and Pelletier.

First period shots on goal favored the Flyers, 11-10.

Montreal went to the game's first power play at 6:59 of the second period. The Flyers killed it off. Offsetting roughing minors at 11:33 on Konecny and Juraj Slafkovsky created two minutes of 4-on-4 play.

The Flyers received their first power play at 15:33. Brendan Gallagher was sent off for tripping. Konecny had a chance in close with 54 seconds left on the 5-on-4.

Montreal went back to the power play at 18:43 as Bobby Brink was called for a slashing minor just inside the defensive blueline. Nick Suzuki hit the post from the deep slot on the ensuing 5-on-4. Montreal took 32 seconds of carryover power play time into the third period.

Second period shots on goal were 8-5 in the Habs' favor (18-16 Montreal through two periods).

The Flyers killed off the remaining time on the Brink minor. Montreal drew within 3-2 at 2:15 on a goal from a severe angle by Cole Caufield (34th). The assists went to Jayden Struble and Hutson.

A slashing minor on Struble at 2:42 gave the Flyers their second power play of the game. Philly got a 28-second two-man advantage at 4:14 on a Josh Anderson roughing penalty. The Flyers used their timeout.

Philly could not score on the 5-on-3. With play at 5-on-4, the Flyers were guilty of an intentional offside. The remaining time went by the wayside.

Tyson Foerster (27th) provided an apparent goal at 10:09 on a rebound in the blue paint. Montreal called timeout and then challenged the goal for goaltender interference by Brink. The call on the ice was upheld and the Flyers officially took a 4-2 lead. Montreal was charged with a delay-of-game penalty. The assists went to Nick Seeler and Brink.

On the ensuing power play, the Flyers' 0-for-34 drought came to an end as Couturier (14th, second of the game) scored off a counterattack from the right circle. The goal at 11:43 was unassisted.

At 13:34, Montreal cut the gap to 5-3 on a backhander near the net by Chrisian Dvorak (10th). The assists went to Anderson and Gallagher.

Philly got the goal right back for a 6-3 lead at 13:52. Michkov got his second of the game (22nd) of the season from the left side. The goal, as with the Couturier tally, was unassisted.

Ersson made an initial save on Suzuki from the slot but Patrik Laine (18th) slam-dunked the rebound to make it a 6-4 game. Suzuki and Slafkovsky drew the assists.

Montreal pulled goaltender Jakub Dobes for an extra attacker in the final 2:30 of the third period. Konecny unselfishly gave up an empty net opportunity to give Michkov a chance at a hat trick. The rookie hit the post but the win belonged to the Flyers.

Ersson stopped 26 of 30 shots to record the win. Dobes made 24 saves on 30 shots.

FLYERS STARTING LINEUP

71 Tyson Foerster -27 Noah Cates - 10 Bobby Brink
39 Matvei Michkov - 14 Sean Couturier - 11 Travis Konecny
74 Owen Tippett - 25 Ryan Poehling - 22 Jakob Pelletier
44 Nicolas Deslauriers - 18 Rodrigo Abols - 15 Olle Lycksell

24 Nick Seeler - 6 Travis Sanheim
5 Egor Zamula - 9 Jamie Drysdale
36 Emil Andrae - 8 Cam York

33 Samuel Ersson
[82 Ivan Fedotov]

Scratches: 55 Rasmus Ristolainen (upper body), 19 Garnet Hathaway (upper body), 35 Aleksei Kolosov (healthy).

PP1: Konecny, Couturier, Brink, Foerster, Michkov
PP2: Sanheim, Tippett, Cates, Lycksell, Drysdale

TURNING POINT

The Foerster rebound goal, the unsuccessful coach's challenge by Martin St. Louis and the Couturier power goal proved to be the deciding segment of Thursday's high-scoring game.

POSTGAME 5 ("RAV4 THINGS" REVISITED)

1. Restore structure: The Flyers yielded a combined 14 goals over the final two games of their recent five-game road trip. On Thursday, Philly still had its share of miscues but the offensive carried the night when all was said and done.

2. Ryan Poehling stepping forward: Flyers center Poeling had six points (four goals, two assists) over his last six games heading into Thursday. Against Montreal, Poehling had a good scoring chance from the bottom of the left circle at 11:33 of the second period. He skated 16:56 in this game.

3. Couturier: Flyers captain Sean Couturier brought a four-game point streak (2g, 3a) into Thursday's match. In this game against the Habs, Couturier took second-star honors and made it eight points (4g, 4a) in his last five games.

4. Special teams: The Flyers were 0-for-31 on the power play through the first 14 games of March, while killing just 23 of 33 penalties (69.5 percent). On Thursday, the Flyers finally ended their drought at 0-for-33 on Couturier's 5-on-4 goal after the earlier unsuccessful two-man advantage. The Flyers went 1-for-4 on the power play at 2-for-2 on the PK.

5. X-factor -- Overcoming distractions: The Flyers entered Thursday's need in dire need of filtering out all outside noise in order to focus solely on the game at hand against Montreal. The team preached the need to play for another, and did just that.