Hart, Flyers edge Canadiens in Game 1 of Eastern First Round

Carter Hart made 27 saves for the Philadelphia Flyers in a 2-1 win against the Montreal Canadiens in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference First Round at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto on Wednesday.

Jakub Voracek and Joel Farabee scored for Philadelphia, which is the No. 1 seed in the East after going 3-0-0 in the round-robin portion of the Stanley Cup Qualifiers.

"We're in the playoffs right now so it's crunch time," Hart said. "We know that Montreal is a good team and they come hard. I thought tonight was a good battle between both teams. Whenever it's a good battle on the ice, it always feels rewarding at the end. That was a hard-fought win by us."

WATCH: [All Canadiens vs. Flyers highlights]

Shea Weber scored and Carey Price made 29 saves for Montreal, which is the No. 8 seed after winning its best-of-5 series against the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Qualifiers.

"I thought from the second period on we really started playing our game, and I think we built some confidence knowing that we can play with these guys," Canadiens coach Claude Julien said. "They're an extremely good team. I'd like to think that our team right now is a good enough team to play with these guys."

Teams that win Game 1 are 478-219 (68.6 percent) winning a best-of-7 NHL playoff series. Game 2 is in Toronto, the Eastern hub city, on Friday (3 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, SN, TVAS, NBCSP).

Hart, who turns 22 on Thursday, has allowed three goals on 87 shots in his first three postseason games.

"He's a great young goalie with a lot of potential," Flyers forward Sean Couturier said. "He's just a true pro. ... He does a lot of little things right on and off the ice, he prepares himself like a true pro. You can just respect that from a young guy, a young goalie, and he's doing everything he can to just get better."

The Canadiens pushed hard late in the third period, with four of their six shots on goal coming in the final 5:26. They also had four shots blocked in that span, and Nick Suzuki hit the crossbar with 27 seconds remaining.

"I've gotten to know Carter and got to know how he sees the game and handles situations," Flyers coach Alain Vigneault said. "He's been through big games before and he's played well. He's just going out there and doing what he's supposed to do, giving us a chance to win games."

Voracek gave the Flyers a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal at 8:54 of the first period, deflecting Ivan Provorov's one-timer from the point.

The goal was Philadelphia's first with the man-advantage in the playoffs after it went 0-for-11 in the round-robin.

Price kept it a one-goal game with a diving save to deny Flyers forward Scott Laughton at 12:01 of the second period. Price slid over and stacked the pads at the left post on an odd-man rush before reaching back to make the save with his stick after Kevin Hayes sent a backhand pass to Laughton in the slot.

"Obviously just desperate there and Nick (Suzuki) made himself big," Price said of the rookie forward, who was in the net in an attempt to block the shot. "I think he got a piece of it as well."

Weber tied it 1-1 with a power-play goal at 14:38 of the second. His initial shot from the left circle was saved by Hart, but the puck bounced back to him following a scramble in front and he shot into an open net.

It was the Canadiens' first power-play goal after going 0-for-12 against the Penguins.

"That is big obviously for the power play," Weber said. "Hopefully (it will) come back and build some momentum. We've been so good 5-on-5 already that we'd like to keep that up."

Farabee scored 16 seconds later to give the Flyers a 2-1 lead. After a Canadiens giveaway, Travis Sanheim's shot from left point was redirected in front by Farabee, who got his own rebound and scored past Price.

The 20-year-old rookie played on the top line with Couturier and Claude Giroux for the second straight game after Voracek, who was moved to the third line against Montreal, was unfit to play against the Tampa Bay Lightning in a round-robin game Saturday.

"I just try and do whatever I can to help the team whatever my role is that night," Farabee said. "Playing with [Couturier and Giroux], they're two world-class players and it's a lot of fun playing with them. Hopefully we can keep this momentum rolling."

Notes:Farabee is the first Flyers player to score a game-winning goal in a playoff game at age 20 or younger since Simon Gagne in Game 1 of the 2000 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals. ... Brendan Gallagher led the Canadiens with seven shots on goal.

NHL.com columnist Dave Stubbs contributed to this report