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Takeaways: Flyers soar, fall to earth, then get off the ground in 5-4 shootout victory over Canadiens

The Flyers got off to a great start, crumbled in the second but showed some character in the end for a 5-4 shootout win against host Montreal Tuesday night.

Posted on by Jason MacNeil
Nov 4, 2025; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; Philadelphia Flyers goalie Dan Vladar (80) makes a save against Montreal Canadiens center Alex Newhook (15) during the second period at Bell Centre. Mandatory Credit: David Kirouac-Imagn Images

It was a great first period and a terrible second, but the Flyers rallied showed some character and defeated the host Montreal Canadiens 5-4 in a shootout Tuesday night.

The basics

First period: 1:56- Bobby Brink (Travis Sanheim, Cam York), 7:07- Cam York (Trevor Zegras, Travis Konecny) (PPG), 7:50- Bobby Brink (Noah Cates, Trevor Zegras) (PPG)
Second period: 3:11- Kirby Dach (Noah Dobson, Brendan Gallagher), 4:15- Nick Suzuki (Ivan Demidov, Cole Caulfield) (PPG), 13:28- Kirby Dach (Lane Hutson, Jayden Struble), 15:57- Ivan Demidov (Juraj Slafkovsky, Lane Hutson) (PPG)
Third period: 10:50- Nikita Grebenkin (Travis Konecny, Jamie Drysdale)
Overtime: No scoring
Shootout: Ivan Demidov- No goal, Trevor Zegras- Goal, Cole Caufield- No goal, Matvei Michkov- No Goal, Nick Suzuki- No goal.
SOG: 42 (PHI) – 20 (MON)

Some takeaways

Discipline discipline discipline

The Flyers had the top penalty killing unit. But you can’t give Montreal the opportunities that they did. Whether it was a foolish trip by Sean Couturier in the offensive zone, or a brain cramp by Bobby Brink (again in the offensive zone), Philadelphia played Russian roulette in the second period. With Canadiens’ rookie Ivan Demidov off to a good start, the Flyers caved in the second. A failed clear at the point ended up in the net for Demidov to put the Habs up 4-3 late in the middle frame.

A team with a 3-0 lead should be able to limit the infractions by playing tight defensively without crossing the line. But too many times the Flyers did just that, leaving Philadelphia up by three in one intermission, and down by one after the second intermission. The Flyers ended up two-for-four on the penalty kill, an off night against a rather dynamic opponent.

Shots shots shots

The Flyers weren’t getting many shots this season. They put that question to bed for at least one night Tuesday evening. The Flyers had 36 shots with roughly half a period of regulation left to play. The chances seemed bountiful, but too often Philadelphia couldn’t finish their chances. Fortunately, midway through period three, Nikita Grebenkin got his first National Hockey League goal, a great wrister that beat a stickless Sam Montembeault to tie the game 4-4.

Good pace to start

Unlike the sleepwalking pace the Flyers had during the Toronto and Calgary games, Philadelphia came out of the gate ready to go. The four lines all looked fresh and seemed to play with purpose early on. And that tempo rarely eased up throughout the opening period as the Flyers finished their checks, got pucks out quickly and were rarely hemmed in their own end. The fact Philadelphia were up 10-1 in shots on goal was proof that whatever message Tocchet was trying to deliver was received loud and clear. As perfect a road period you could envision. And this despite the Flyers being horrible on the faceoff dot, winning just five of 18 faceoffs (27.8 per cent) in the opening twenty minutes.

A potpourri of line combos

With Tyson Foerster out of the lineup, head coach Rick Tocchet threw a lot of different variations into the lines. Bobby Brink and Noah Cates were broken up for the first time this season as Cates found himself with Nikita Grebenkin and Travis Konecny. Meanwhile Brink saw himself bumped up somewhat being on a line with Matvei Michkov and Sean Couturier.

And Brink delivered right off the bat! Couturier sped down the ice to negate a possible icing. The puck went to Cam York who fed a cross-ice pass to Travis Sanheim. Sanheim hit Brink with a deflection that gave Philadelphia a quick (and important) 1-0 lead.

The lines for the most part worked well. However in the second period the Flyers began to bend a little bit. After Montreal got a fortunate bounce after the backboards that Kirby Dach buried behind Dan Vladar, Philadelphia took their second minor of the evening. It seemed to be an important kill for the top-ranked penalty killing unit in the league. And the faltered miserably. Some very nifty passing by the Canadiens quickly made it a 3-2 lead. It was almost the kind of bad start to a period that would cause Tocchet to call a timeout simply to calm things down. he didn’t.

It’s interesting to see the potential some of these lines have. For some reason Konecny didn’t quite look so bad with Grebenkin and Cates as his linemates. And Tippett nearly scored a breakaway goal midway through the second which could’ve given Philadelphia a little bit of insurance.

Michkov is coming

Whether it was a late hit in the second period which rankled some of Montreal’s feathers, or having an assist in the first, Matvei Michkov looked far better in this game than at any point in the season. After 40 minutes Michkov was 15-0 in terms of the share of shot attempts, second only to Couturier who was 18-0 after two period. And all of that for the Mad Russian in just 9:24 of ice time.

Fans would love to see more goals and assists by now. But knowing that Michkov is looking more like himself with each passing game is a saving grace in what has been a middling start to the season. The forward ended with a foiled shootout attempt but had three shots and was fantastic start to finish! Oh, his expected goals for percentage on the night was 91.81, second only to Tippett (92.26).

Deslauriers delivers

Nic Deslauriers had his fist attacked by Arber Xhekaj’s face a handful of times in the third period during a scrap. Deslauriers — who fought Arber’s brother in the exhibition schedule — rattled the defenseman. The trade off was advantageous for Philadelphia as Xhekaj being off for five minutes left the Canadiens with five defensemen.

Power play powerful

Despite the rather jumbled lines, the Flyers first power play (thanks to Montreal’s Mike Matheson tossing the puck over the glass) saw Jamie Drysdale, Zegras, Brink, Cates, and Tippett. That unit got a break when Noah Dobson crosschecked Brink from behind. The result was an extended five-on-three. This one started with Zegras, York, Couturier, Michkov, and Konency. Although they looked a bit deliberate in setting up, the Flyers struck gold when Cam York buried a great one-timer by Montreal’s Sam Montembeault for a 2-0 lead.

They weren’t done though! Not by a long shot. Less than a minute later, with the Flyers now on a five-on-four advantage, Zegras fed a pass in tight that Cates got a stick on before Brink buried it up high for his second of the evening for an impressive and early 3-0 lead.

The third power play saw another rush by Brink who nearly earned the hat trick. But Montreal’s Alexandre Carrier got a stick or his glove on the puck before Brink could do much with it. The same power play saw Montreal nearly tie it on a breakaway that hit the post after the Flyers had two great chances to take a two-goal lead. Although ending the night two-for-six, the two power play goals were proof they are getting better.

Vladar coming back down to earth but battled back

Dan Vladar wasn’t busy at all in the first. But a weak start to the second resulted in the keeper needing to keep the Flyers with their one-goal lead in period two. Vladar didn’t face a lot of shots, giving up two goals on six shots. Yet he kept the Flyers from getting into trouble after the Nick Suzuki power play tally. A nearly costly giveaway to Alex Newhook was stopped as the goalie slowly started to get busier and began settling in.

The third Montreal of the period was just bad, squeezing through a short-side hole that should’ve been sealed shut to the post. Unfortunately, it was a leaky goal at a time when the Flyers couldn’t afford to give one away. With five minutes left in the second the shots were 24-8 for Philadelphia. Yet the game was tied 3-3. Then Montreal’s go-ahead goal was the icing on an incredibly crappy 20-minute cake. The shots? Well, 30-11 after 40 minutes. And down a goal.

Give Vladar some credit in the end. He managed to deliver a great poke check in overtime before stopping Ivan Demidov and Cole Caulfield in the shootout. As for Nick Suzuki, well Suzuki sort of helped Vladar in making the save by missing the net. The goalie was at an .800 save percentage for the contest, but came through in the clutch.

Shoutout to Zegras in shootout

Trevor Zegras was the lone goal scorer in the shootout, but it was the difference in securing the Flyers two points and the W. Zegras continues to dazzle in the extra session, changing pace but the result rarely in doubt.

All stats courtesy of NaturalStatTrick

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