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Canadiens 4, Flyers 3: Who knew there were so many different ways to lose a hockey game

1st Period

The Flyers got an early power play just 20 seconds into the game. It was a patient and good-looking power play where the Flyers controlled the puck basically the whole time, but could not find the back of the net.

The Flyers still got on the board first thanks to a beautiful passing play that ended with Kevin Hayes putting the puck in a wide open net.

Montreal had a chance to even things up after Justin Braun took a holding penalty, but they could not get anything going and the Flyers remained on top. The Flyers would take that same 1-0 lead into the second period. The Flyers were the better team and had more quality scoring chances despite being outshot 11-9. They were more energetic and were able to force a lot of giveaways which was the biggest difference in the period.

2nd Period

A Claude Giroux tripping penalty gave the Habs their second power play of the game, which they took advantage of after Nick Suzuki put a wrist shot past Carter Hart despite his getting a piece of the puck

Giroux would make up for the penalty later in the period after bringing the puck out front and wrapping it far side beating Sam Montembeault. For Giroux, it was his 900th career point and his 291st career goal, putting him eighth in Flyers history.

Suzuki answered back just over a minute later, getting his second of the night after beating Ristolainen on the outside, taking a shot and getting his own rebound to tie things up at two.

After over-skating the puck in the offensive zone, Travis Sanheim took a hooking penalty with 7:26 remaining in the period. Montreal really did not get any grade-A chances and the game remained tied.

Montreal went back to the power play for the fourth time in the game after a Derick Brassard hooking penalty. The Canadiens did not get anything going in the first part of the power play but would carry over 41 seconds of power play time as the teams headed to locker room with the game still knotted at two.

3rd Period

The Flyers killed off the remaining penalty time to stay level in the game. Another Montreal turnover led to a Cam Atkinson goal, thanks to a nice play made by Joel Farabee giving the Flyers a 3-2 lead.

The Flyers were very defensive for the rest of the period, going into that shell that we have seen so many times as fans. With 1:22 remaining in the period Montreal pulled the goalie giving them the extra attacker.

However with exactly one minute remaining Chris Wideman was given a five minute interference penalty for kneeing Joel Farabee in his family jewels, though upon review it was reduced to just a minor penalty.

Just 18 seconds later it was the Canadiens who scored a shorthanded goal to tie things up at three, courtesy of Rem Pitlick.

The teams would head to overtime with the Flyers having one minute left of power play time.

OT

Overtime started with the Flyers having a 4-on-3 advantage, but they did absolutely nothing with their remaining power play time.

With 2:50 remaining after a bad pass that hit Farabee in the back of the legs, Cole Caufield took the puck and beat Hart over the glove with a slap shot to give the Canadiens the 4-3 win.

Final Thoughts

There really is no words to describe this team anymore. They continuously invent new ways to lose hockey games and prove they deserve to be in the bottom of the league. I always feel that a team that is playing the second game of a back-to-back has more jump at the beginning of the game and then wear out in the late stages. This seemed evident again today as the Flyers opened the game with good energy and making solid plays with the puck. However at the end of the game the team looked mentally exhausted and made one stupid play after another. Now, this is not an excuse because this has become a routine thing we see from this team game in and game out.

The entire game was kind of sloppy but the end really got out of control. The Flyers had some good chances in the third but couldn’t finish and weren’t able to have any sustained zone time. This allowed Montreal to hang around and therefore the game resulted the way it did.

The Flyers are back in action Thursday night when the Nashville Predators come to town. At least there will be plenty of beers going around to help us cope with whatever hell awaits Flyers fans in that game.

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