Van Riemsdyk, Flyers defeat Canadiens, end six-game losing streak

MONTREAL --James van Riemsdyk had two goals and an assist, and the Philadelphia Flyers ended a six-game losing streak with a 6-3 win against the Montreal Canadiens at Bell Centre on Thursday.

Ivan Provorov had a goal and an assist, and Martin Jones made 31 saves for Philadelphia (24-43-11). Bobby Brink had two assists.
"I think it felt the best just to end that losing streak," Brink said. "It felt good getting the win. I think that we felt even better because we played a good game as a team."
Carey Price made 28 saves in his third straight loss, and Mike Hoffman scored his first goal since March 5 for Montreal (20-47-11), which has lost seven straight.
"It's been frustrating, it's been a tough go lately," Canadiens forward Brendan Gallagher said. "Our focus is on the next game here (at the Ottawa Senators on Saturday) and trying to get a win."

Oskar Lindblom put the Flyers ahead 3-2 at 6:49 of the second period with a wrist shot through Canadiens defenseman Chris Wideman and over Price's right shoulder. Linus Hogberg, who was making his NHL debut, had the secondary assist on the play.
Travis Konecny extended the lead to 4-2 at 13:02. He received a stretch pass from Ronnie Attard after getting behind the defense and shot glove side from the left circle.
"I think [Attard] had good patience there, where everyone thought he was dumping it," Konecny said. "And even me, to be honest, I was thinking it was going to be a dump, but if he did see the hole there it would be a good opportunity, and he did."
Morgan Frost made it 5-2 at 15:36 of the third period when he drove the net and redirected Noah Cates' backhand pass five-hole on Price.
Van Riemsdyk scored his second of the game to make it 6-2 at 16:56, and Cole Caufield responded 37 seconds later for the 6-3 final.
"Obviously, the result is the most important thing, and it's a tough stretch here, it's a tough time," Canadiens defenseman Jeff Petry said. "But for myself and I think for every guy in the room, we're working to improve."

Van Riemsdyk gave Philadelphia a 1-0 lead at 7:43, scoring on his own rebound near the right post, and Provorov made it 2-0 at 14:29 with a wrist shot short side from the left circle.
Hoffman cut it to 2-1 at 15:31, shooting into an open net after Gallagher swiped him the puck with his glove during a scramble in the crease. It was his first goal in 22 games.
"Obviously, I knew what I did. We got away with one," Gallagher said. "It's just one of those things. The refs didn't see it, they can't review it, so we caught a break. … But obviously, after that they took over the game."
Although Jake Evans tied it 2-2 at 5:28 of the second period, the Flyers responded with four straight goals to end their losing streak.
"I think the big thing for us is that we didn't let [Hoffman's goal] derail us," Philadelphia coach Mike Yeo said. "We've been trying to talk about that a lot, you know, how you deal with adversity, whether it's game to game or in the course of a game, and I thought that our guys did a good job of that tonight."
NOTES: Hogberg was plus-1 with three blocked shots in 17:25 after being recalled from Lehigh Valley of the American Hockey League on an emergency basis on Wednesday. He is the ninth player to make his NHL debut for the Flyers this season, joining Brink, Cates, Attard, Max Willman, Linus Sandin, Felix Sandstrom, Isaac Ratcliffe and Hayden Hodgson. … Canadiens forward Michael Pezzetta served the second of his two-game suspension for a cross-check to the head of T.J. Oshie of the Washington Capitals on Saturday.