Voracek propels Flyers to OT win against Canadiens

PHILADELPHIA -- Jakub Voracek tied the game late in the third period and then scored 1:26 into overtime to give the Philadelphia Flyers a 3-2 win against the Montreal Canadiens at Wells Fargo Center on Tuesday.
He cut to the middle of the ice and beat goaltender Carey Price past his glove to lift the Flyers to their third straight win.

"Just tried to hide it behind the defenseman]," said Voracek, who got his NHL-leading 55th assist in the second period. "I got lucky and it went in."
***[WATCH: [All Canadiens vs. Flyers highlights]*
Nolan Patrick scored for Philadelphia (31-19-10), which moved two points ahead of the New Jersey Devils for third place in the Metropolitan Division. Alex Lyon made 25 saves for his second NHL win.
The Flyers are on a nine-game point streak (7-0-2) and trail the Pittsburgh Penguins by two points for second place and the Washington Capitals by three for first in the Metropolitan.
"We're done looking behind us, we're looking ahead of us now," Voracek said. "I think we've got to a spot where we can look ahead of us. We're looking at Pittsburgh and Washington now."

The Flyers didn't have to kill a penalty for the third straight game. They're the second team to do that since the NHL began keeping power-play and penalty-kill records in the 1977-78 season. The Calgary Flames went three straight April 4-9, 2015.
"I don't think we've dominated puck possession over the last couple games, but when we haven't had it, we've worked hard to get it back the right way," Philadelphia coach Dave Hakstol said. "At this time of year, it's about moving your feet, trying to get above plays and trying to check the right way."
Jeff Petry and Paul Byron scored for the Canadiens (22-29-8), and Price made 30 saves. It was Montreal's sixth straight loss (0-4-2) and seventh straight on the road (0-6-1).
"We're not good enough with the mistakes we're making," Canadiens coach Claude Julien said. "As a team, we competed head to head against a pretty good hockey club. It's little details in this game that make a big difference, and the details right now just aren't there on a consistent basis."

The Flyers had Lyon pulled for an extra attacker when Voracek scored with 1:25 remaining in the third period to tie it 2-2. Sean Couturier carried the puck through the Canadiens zone and waited for Voracek to arrive as the extra attacker. Voracek's one-timer deflected off Canadiens forward Max Pacioretty's stick and beat Price five-hole.
"I think [Couturier] saw me when he got it," Voracek said. "When he cut to the middle, we made eye contact. When he was facing me, I knew it was coming. I was trying to hit [Travis Konecny] for the tip, but it got redirected and went in."
Byron gave the Canadiens a 2-1 lead when he scored at 8:45 of the third.
Petry gave the Canadiens a 1-0 lead with 2:13 left in the first period when he redirected Karl Alzner's point shot past Lyon. It was his NHL career-high ninth goal.

The Flyers tied it 1-1 when Patrick cut through the slot and redirected Claude Giroux's shot for his first NHL power-play goal at 7:18 of the second period.

Goal of the game

Voracek's goal at 1:26 of overtime.

Save of the game

Lyon blocked a wraparound attempt by Tomas Plekanec with his stick, then reached behind him to cover the puck at 6:16 of the first period.

Highlight of the game

Voracek's goal at 18:35 of the third period.

They said it

"I thought we played really good. We had the lead until the last five minutes of the game. Overtime just could go either way. I thought we competed hard and battled hard. It should have been a different result." -- Canadiens defenseman Victor Mete
"I hear 'shoot the puck' every single time I touch it. If I would listen to all the people who tell me to shoot it, I'd have 500 shots at the end of the season." -- Flyers forward Jakub Voracek

Need to know

Voracek is the second player in Flyers history to tie a game with less than two minutes remaining and then score in overtime. Defenseman Joni Pitkanen did it Nov. 8, 2005, in a 4-3 win against the Boston Bruins. … Price played his 552nd NHL game, passing Patrick Roy for second among goalies in Canadiens history (Jacques Plante, 556). … Goalie Petr Mrazek, acquired by the Flyers in a trade from the Detroit Red Wings on Monday, backed up Lyon. … The Flyers played their first game without forward Wayne Simmonds, who is out 2-3 weeks because of an upper-body injury sustained in a 7-4 win at the New York Rangers on Sunday. It's the first game he's missed since April 11, 2015. … Flyers forward Oskar Lindblom had one shot on goal in 15:18 of ice time in his NHL debut.

What's next

Canadiens: Host the New York Rangers on Thursday (7:30 p.m. ET; TSN2, RDS, MSG 2, NHL.TV)
Flyers: Host the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday (7 p.m. ET; SNE, SNO, SNP, NBCSP, FS-O, NHL.TV)