Postgame 5: Flyers Struggle to 9-3 Loss in Montreal

The Philadelphia Flyers fell to the Montreal Canadiens, 9-3, at Bell Centre on Tuesday evening. The Flyers are winless in their last eight games.

The Flyers trailed 1-0 at the end of the first period. The opening frame was a sloppy one at times -- Philly struggled at times with failed clears and outlet attempts -- but also blocked more than a dozen Montreal shot attempts. 

Juraj Slafkovsky (17th goal of the season) deflected a shot past Samuel Ersson for a 1-0 Montreal lead at 1:05 of the first period. The assists went to Mike Matheson and Cole Caufield.

The Flyers got off to a decent start early in the second period. The Habs then hit the Flyers with a deluge of five unanswered goals.

Slafkovsky (second of the game, 18th of the season) got open near the right post to take a feed from Nick Suzuki and score a back-door goal for a 2-0 lead at 8:43 of the second period. Jamie Drysdale got caught up and Nick Seeler tried to move across. The assists went to Suzuki and Matheson, as the Canadiens worked the puck around the attack zone.

Montreal made it 3-0 at 10:46 of the second period on a deflection goal by Brendan Gallagher (12th). The assists went to Johnathan Kovacevic and Josh Harris.

Slafkovsky (first career hat trick, 19th goal of the season) got behind defensemen Marc Staal and Eric Johnson. Receiving a pass from David Savard, Slafkovsky soloed against Ersson for his third goal of the game at 11:22 of the second period. The Habs now led 4-0.

Montreal's Josh Anderson (9th) ended Ersson's night at 12:42 of the second period. He crashed the net and the puck went over the line. The assists went to Harris and Pearson. Ivan Fedotov entered the game.

Christian Dvorak, returning from a torn pectoral muscle, got into the scoring act for Montreal with a goal from the slot (4th of the season) at 15:27. Harris picked up his third assist of the game.

The third period was more or less "garbage time" with the outcome already sealed. The two sides traded off three goals apiece.

The Flyers broke up the shutout bid at 4:55 of the third period. Owen Tippett gained an entry and dropped a pass to Ryan Poehling. From the right circle, Poehling (11th goal of the season) scored to reduce the deficit to 6-1. Erik Johnson (first point as a Flyer) received the secondary assist.

Laughton turned the puck over in the defensive zone. A pass attempt by Rafael Harvey-Pinard went off Johnson and directly to Dvorak (second of the game, fifth of the season) for a slam dunk and a 7-1 lead.

After a turnover up ice, Gallagher (second of the game, 13th of the season) beat Seeler to go in and score for an 8-1 lead. Armia and Kovacevic assisted.

At 15:05, after Noah Cates took the puck to the net and Olle Lycksell kept the play alive in front, Joel Farabee (22nd) grabbed the loose puck and scored. The Habs led 8-2  

Poehling stopped at the net to take a feed from Erik Johnson. The puck went off a defender into the net before it could reach Poehling. After a scoring change, the goal was credited to Johnon (4th) rather than Poehling. The assists at 17:07 of the third period went to Tippett and Garnet Hathaway.

Ersson (five goals allowed on 16 shots) played 32:42 before he was pulled. Fedotov played the remainder of the game, stopping 10 of 14 shots in 26:48. Samuel Montembeault earned the win with 32 saves on 35 shots.

The Flyers were 0-for-2 on the power play. The Canadiens did not receive a power play, as all eight goals came at 5-on-5.

FLYERS STARTING LINEUP

71 Tyson Foerster - 48 Morgan Frost - 74 Owen Tippett
86 Joel Farabee - 21 Scott Laughton - 11 Travis Konecny
62 Olle Lycksell - 25 Ryan Poehling - 19 Garnet Hathaway
27 Noah Cates - 14 Sean Couturier - 10 Bobby Brink

8 Cam York - 6 Travis Sanheim
24 Nick Seeler - 9 Jamie Drysdale
18 Marc Staal - 77 Erik Johnson

33 Samuel Ersson
[82 Ivan Fedotov]

TURNING POINT

The coverage breakdown on the second Slafkovsky goal, doubling Montreal's lead to 2-0, opened the floodgates for the Habs. By the time the second period ended with Montreal leading 6-0, the rest of the game was academic.

POSTGAME 5

1) Shortly after the Slafkovsky goal, Travis Sanheim created a volley in the Montreal end. On ensuing shifts, Joel Farabee and Scott Laughton had looks.

Through the first 6:47, shots on goal were 6-5 Flyers.

The Canadiens were called for too many men on the ice at 10:31 of the first period. The Flyers were unable to generate any meaningful scoring chances or any shots on goal (Philly was now on an 0-for-15 stretch).

Seeler broke up an Alex Newhook scoring chance with about five and a half minutes left in the period. At the other end, Frost set up two chances for Tippett. Shots were now 12-7 Flyers through 16 minutes.

Jayden Struble came within a whisker of a back door goal. Moments later, Drysdale came up with a goal-saving shot block.

Staal blocked a shot: Philly's 12th of the opening period. York blocked No. 13 on the next shift. One more followed.

2) First period shots on goal were 11-8 Flyers. Faceoffs were 14-8 Flyers (Couturier was 6-for-7).

3) Tippett had the Flyers first scoring chance of the middle stanza. At 3:45, Frost was stopped on a backhander off the rush on a feed from Brink. At 4:22, with Flyers players caught up ice, Ersson denied Joel Armia in close.

Two shifts later, the Canadiens had another odd man rush; this time on a counterattack from a Foerster scoring chance. Ersson denied Tanner Pearson from point-blank range.

At 7:20, York pinched and went to the net for a feed from Couturier. Through 8:05, shots were 6-2 Flyers. Slafkovsky made it 2-0 at 8:43 before Gallagher opened a three-goal edge at 10:46. Slafkovsky completed the hat trick at 11:22. Anderson built a 5-0 lead at 12:42.

Fedotov was greeted with a 2-on-1 shortly after after taking over in net. Farabee directed a Frost feed wide from near the net. Seconds later, Frost hit the post from the slot. Montreal's Dvorak made it 6-0 on Montreal's 20th shot of the game at 15;27.

At 17:45, Gallagher collided at the net with Fedotov. Pushing and shoving ensued as Fedotov tried to skate off the effects. Struble and Konecny received offsetting roughing minors. The teams skated at 4-on-4 for two minutes.

4) Second period shots on goal were 13-11 Montreal (21-21 overall). Faceoffs were 11-9 Montreal (23-19 Flyers overall).

5) Through 4:26 of the third period, shots were 3-2 Montreal. Poehling scored at 4:55.

Newhook was called for high-sticking at 5:46 of the third period. The power play was, once again, unsuccessful.

At 10:06, Dvorak forged a 7-1 Montreal cushion as the ultimate result of an initial turnover by Laughton. Gallagher scored Montrreal's eighth goal at 11:19.

Frost led Brink on a 2-on-1 rush at 13:30. Brink was unable to finish it near the net.

The Farabee and Poehling goals reduced the deficit to 8-3, Armia made it 9-3 with 1:43 remaining in the game.

Third period shots on goal were 13-9 Flyers (35-31 Flyers overall). Faceoffs were 11-10 Flyers (34-29 Flyers overall).