Postgame RAV4: Flyers Defeat Habs, 4-1

The Philadelphia Flyers earned an impressive 4-1 win over the Montreal Canadiens at Bell Centre on Tuesday evening. Two goals by the Flyers in the final minute of a period proved to be a big difference-maker.

In the final minute of the first period, the teams traded off a goal apiece. After Alexandre Texier (3rd goal of the season opened the scoring, Carl Grundstrom (3rd) responded 39 seconds later.

The Flyers scored two unanswered goals in the middle stanza. Early in the period, Trevor Zegras (14th) gave Philadelphia the lead. Later, the Flyers scored another final-minute tally. Bobby Brink extended the advantage to 3-1.

Montreal made a push early in the third period, but Dan Vladar had all the answers. Travis Konecny (ENG, 9th) iced the win.

Vladar made 21 saves on 22 shots to earn the win. In a losing cause, Jacob Fowler stopped 17 of 20 shots.

FIRST PERIOD SYNOPSIS

Montreal had three of the game's first five shots on goal over the game's first five minutes. The Flyers won six of the first seven faceoffs.

The Flyers got the game's first power play. At 9:04, Ivan Demidov went off for a retaliatory cross-check of Rasmus Ristolainen. Sean Couturier had the best scoring chance on the power play but the game remained 0-0. Matvei Michkov fired a shot wide.

At 12:31, Alexandre Carrier tripped Christian Dvorak. The Flyers, once again, were unable to capitalize.

At the 19:00 mark, after the Flyers turned the puck over near the Montreal blue line, Texier got open moving down the slot. He took a feed from Jake Evans and scored. The other assist went to Josh Anderson.

Grundstrom knotted the score at 19:38. This time, the Canadiens turned over the puck in the Flyers' zone. On the counterattack, Owen Tippett passed to Sean Couturier, who returned the pass. Tippett then found Grundstrom open in the left slot. The Swede made no mistake.

Ristolained registered three hits in the first period of his return to the Flyers' lineup.

Shots: Flyers 9 - Canadiens 6

Faceoffs: Flyers 11 - Canadiens 5

SECOND PERIOD SYNOPSIS

The Flyers played a very strong middle 20 minutes of the game. They took away time and space from Montreal, took care of the puck for the most part, and didn't give the Canadiens fans much to get excited about.

Couturier took a holding penalty at 3:32. The Flyers killed it off.

At 6:26, the Flyers took a 2-1 lead. Playing his 300th career NHL game, Zegras took a feed from Travis Konecny and beat Fowler between the pads. The secondary assist went to Emil Andrae.

The Flyers continued to dominate in the faceoff circle and control the pace through the neutral zone.

Philadelphia's lead grew to 3-1 at 19:10. Michkov stole the puck from Fowler behind the net and fed Brink for a goal from point blank range.

Shots: Flyers 9 (18 overall) - Canadiens 4 (10 overall)
Faceoffs: Flyers 13 (24 overall) - Canadiens 4 (9 overall)

THIRD PERIOD SYNOPSIS

Vladar turned aside a Cole Caufield shot early in the period with the Flyers caught in a line change. Shortly, Vladar made a stop on Demidov in what turned into a lengthy shift in the Philly zone. The puck nearly bounced off the Flyers' goalie into the net.

The Flyers escaped a potential too many men on the ice penalty. Vladar stopped Nick Suzuki with 13:13 remaining in regulation. Shots on goal were now 5-2 Montreal in the period.

An Andrae shot deflected just wide of the net. The Flyers got their first forechecking presence of the period. Tippett nearly turned a harmless play into something. Through 11:30, shots were 7-2 Habs.

The Flyers tightened up their checking again. Ristolainen made a strong defensive stop at the blueline. The next Montreal chance came off the stick of Caufield.

Brendan Gallagher took an undisciplined high-sticking penalty at 13:51. He clipped Nick Seeler up high with his stick. Gallagher tried to goad Seeler into retaliating but the Flyers defensemen didn't take bait.

Zegras and Anderson went off on coincidental roughing minors at 14:15.

The Canadiens pulled Fowler for a 6-on-5 attack. Konecny sealed the deal with an empty-netter at 18:25. Christian Dvorak and Couturier earned the assists.

Shots: Flyers 3 (21 overall) - Canadiens 12 (22 overall)
Faceoffs: Flyers 15 (39 overall) - Canadiens 10 (19 overall)

FLYERS STARTING LINEUP

Trevor Zegras- Christian Dvorak – Travis Konecny
Carl Grundstrom – Sean Couturier – Owen Tippett
Matvei Michkov – Noah Cates – Bobby Brink
Nicolas Deslauriers – Rodrigo Abols – Garnet Hathaway

Cam York – Travis Sanheim
Emil Andrae – Jamie Drysdale
Nick Seeler - Rasmus Ristolainen

Dan Vladar
[Samuel Ersson]

PP1: York, Michkov, Couturier, Konecny, Sanheim
PP2: Drysdale, Brink, Cates, Tippett, Zegras

Postgame RAV4 (RAV4 Things Revisited)

1. Dvorak line.

The former Montreal forward was on the ice for the Texier goal that gave Montreal a 1-0 lead. However, the team wasted little time tying the game on the next shift and the club rolled the momentum into the second period.

2. Special teams battle.

The Flyers went 0-for-3 on the power play. They were 1-for-1 on the penalty kill.

3. Secondary scoring: Cates and Brink.

Noah Cates and Bobby Brink started the game with a new linemate on Tuesday, skating alongside Matvei Michkov. The change paid a dividend with Brink taking a Michkov feed and giving the Flyers a 3-1 lead to take into the third period.

4. Drysdale pushing the pace.

Facing Lane Hutson and the Canadiens, the Flyers needed Jamie Drysdale to use his speed effectively and help set the pace for Philly. On Tuesday, Drysdale was on the ice for the Texier goal. However, he and partner Andrae bounced back in what was a strong team effort.