Philadelphia Flyers
Role Player
Some takeaways from Flyers’ 3-2 loss to Montreal
Source: https://www.broadstreethockey.com/post/some-takeaways-from-flyers-3-2-loss-to-montreal/
Brad Shaw suffered his first loss as the Flyers head coach and Philadelphia squandered a third period lead to lose 3-2 in regulation Saturday night in Montreal. The loss officially eliminated them from the playoffs but, with other teams behind them winning, dropped them further down the standings. And higher up in the draft lottery.
The basics
First period: 4:10- Ryan Poehling (Jakob Pelletier, Cam York)
Second period: No scoring
Third period: 1:24- Brendan Gallagher (Jake Evans, Christian Dvorak), 2:40- Lane Hutson (Nick Suzuki), 10:39- Nick Suzuki (Kaiden Guhle) (SHG), 19:21- Tyson Foerster (Travis Konecny, Ryan Poehling) (PPG)
SOG: 23 (PHI) – 27 (MON)
Some takeaways
Ersson good early, not so good late
Starter Sam Ersson wasn’t busy for most of the first, but stood tall in the latter half of the first when he bent but didn’t break during Montreal’s opening power play. In the second Ersson made his best save of the night when he stoned Christian Dvorak as the Canadiens came up ice on an odd-man break. Both Matvei Michkov and Jamie Drysdale were back but it was Ersson who came up with the glove save.
Late in the second, a nifty passing play had Nick Suzuki looking like he’d tied the game. But Ersson got his blocker on the shot which caused Suzuki to look perplexed it didn’t go in. The third period wasn’t kind to the Flyers or Ersson, as two goals in 76 seconds gave Montreal and their crowd a 2-1 lead. Lane Hutson’s shot was well-placed but it’s still one that looks ugly. Although he didn’t have much help most of the night, Ersson ended the evening with another game where his save percentage was under .900.
Poehling pretty, pretty goal
The Flyers made a great rush less than five minutes in. And Ryan Poehling made the most of it when Cam York fed the puck to Jakob Pelletier. Pelletier made a pretty pass to Poehling who backhanded the puck beyond Montreal keeper Sam Montembeault. The goal continues the maniacal streak Poehling has had, with eight goals since the trade deadline.
Calder showdown
Michkov drew first blood in this contest. Not by scoring, but getting cut by a Alexandre Carrier high stick which clipped him in the nose. The double-minor power play began without Michkov but had Bobby Brink at the point. The Flyers had a good chance when Travis Konecny fed Sean Couturier in the slot but couldn’t score.
In the third Michkov was a few feet inside his own blueline and had a chance to make the clear. Unfortunately he didn’t. The same shift Montreal missed a few chances but Brendan Gallagher finally put one by Ersson to tie the game 1-1.
Meanwhile Montreal’s Lane Hutson fed some nice passes to Patrik Laine on the power play but Laine couldn’t finish. The Canadiens had a horde of bad turnovers and giveaways in the first, with 17 turnovers before the game was 25 minutes old. The Flyers were guilty of just five by comparison. Hutson’s go-ahead goal (and only his sixth of the seaon) shortly after Gallagher’s was a laser but a bad one to give up.
LANE HUTSON
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Karsen Dorwart’s good debut
Less than two minutes into the game, Karsen Dorwart took his first NHL shift, getting tossed out of the faceoff circle before play commenced. It was the fourth line which ended up causing some problems for Montreal when Nic Deslauriers was late on a line change but enabled the Cates line to have some pressure in the Canadiens’ end.
Flyers interim head coahc Brad Shaw wasn’t afraid to use Dorwart onn the power play either. Dorwart shut down a chance by Jake Evans, looking anything but a deer in the headlights to make the right play. And although he ended up on the wrong end of an extended shift, the Habs didn’t score to tie things up. But one noteworthy optic was seeing how much of a two-way game Dorwart plays. Rarely was he last in the defensive zone but at times feet from Ersson in front or near the crease. He finished the first period with 3:58 of ice time, more than Garnet Hathaway, Deslauriers, Owen Tippett, and Pelletier.
Drysdale avoids injury
Drysdale took an innocent looking hit in the corner late in the first period. Initially it looked like he had possibly hurt his left shoulder and seemed to be favoring it a little bit. Fortunately Drysdale was back on on his next shift and looked fine. The last thing the Flyers need at this point in the seasonn is some injury that would set back a player back next year, especially someone who has had injury problems like the young, developing blueliner.
Not a lot of whistles but not a lot of flow
With one team attempting to secure a tighter grip on a playoff spot, and the other on life support but the plug is pulled, the game didn’t have many whistles. But it wasn’t exciting despite the occasional buzz in the Bell Centre and chants urging the Canadiens on. The neutral zone was a war of attrition essentially with neither side mounting much speed or creativity to make a strong chance to score. In short, it was a perfect road game for Philadelphia after 40 minutes.
The Flyers threw a few good bodychecks in the second on the same shift. First Hathaway took care of Gallagher with a clean, hard, open-ice hit. Seconds later Tippett ran Emil Heineman hard (but clean) in Montreal’s defensive zone. But those hits were the only highlights for the Flyers the rest of the night as they mustered zero shots on goal for the first eight minutes of the third period, giving up three goals in the third.
The dagger was a short-handed goal by Nick Suzuki that was the death knell for the Flyers on this night and officially (mathematically, however you wish to describe it) put them out of the playoffs. A late Tyson Foerster power play goal made it close late. But too late. Flyers are done with five games left to go.
Source
Source: https://www.broadstreethockey.com/post/some-takeaways-from-flyers-3-2-loss-to-montreal/
: 93.3 WMMR