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Takeaways: Flyers youngsters lead the way with impressive 4-2 win over stacked Canadiens lineup

The Flyers rookies and youngsters defeated Montreal 4-2 on Tuesday night, wrapping up an extremely satisfying (and successful) regular season.

Posted on by Jason MacNeil
Apr 14, 2026; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Oliver Bonk (59) celebrates his goal with right wing Matvei Michkov (39) and defenseman Hunter McDonald (75) against the MontrŽal Canadiens during the first period at Xfinity Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images

Not many regulars? No problem. The Flyers bevy of rookies and young stars led by Matvei Michkov, Porter Martone and Oliver Bonk defeated the Montreal Canadiens 4-2 on Tuesday night.

The basics

First period: 8:08 – Porter Martone (Matvei Michkov, Oliver Bonk), 14:42- Oliver Bonk (Matvei Michkov, Hunter McDonald)
Second period: 6:50 – Brendan Gallagher (Kaiden Guhle, Alexandre Texier), 13:52 – Matvei Michkov (Unassisted), 19:49 – Jake Evans (Arber Xhekaj, Joe Veleno)
Third period: 12:00 – Alex Bump (Porter Martone)
SOG: 25 (PHI) – 29 (MTL)

Some takeaways

Bonk and McDonald with memorable debuts

The Flyers gave a good chunk of their lineup the night off, getting a needed extra day of rest and avoiding needless injury in a meaningless finale. Philadelphia scratched Travis Konency, Trevor Zegras, Owen Tippett, Sean Couturier, Travis Sanheim, Cam York, Jamie Drysdale, Rasmus Ristolainen and goaltender Dan Vladar. In their place were some of the black aces on the roster and a handful of call ups from Lehigh Valley. So with eight subtractions from the lineup, the Flyers put in Oliver Bonk and Hunter McDonald on the blueline, both of them making their National Hockey League debut. And David Jiricek — who the Flyers acquired in the Bobby Brink trade with Minnesota — was also making his Flyers debut.

Bonk and McDonald both took their pre-game rookie lap.

And both got some penalty killing time early when Nick Seeler took a high-sticking minor. However, Bonk got ahead of McDonald on the scoresheet when he got a secondary assist on Philadelphia’s opening goal. Later, the duo delivered in one big shift. McDonald nailed a Hab and seconds later, Bonk’s shot got through some traffic and ended up in the net. A 2-0 lead. Bonk’s first NHL career goal, and McDonald with his first NHL point. Hell of a first period for the young’uns!

Meanwhile, the lines were also quite jumbled, with the top line featuring something old and something relatively new for center Noah Cates. Tyson Foerster was on one side, his longtime winger for most of last year. On the other side was Matvei Michkov. Another line was Denver Barkey between Alex Bump and Porter Martone.

Leave in one piece

For the remaining players who were playing the second of the back-to-back, the main goal was to play the game and get away unscathed. Garnet Hathaway blocked a shot that caught him on the arm and didn’t play the rest of the period. Perhaps it was due to injury, perhaps it was just being overly cautious, but Hathaway played just 49 seconds in the first. He took a regular shift in the second.

The only other moment that had Flyers fans wincing a bit was Tyson Foerster blocking a shot in the second, but he didn’t miss a shift. Generally, the game wasn’t very physical, with both sides clearly hoping to keep things primarily whistle-free. Of course, Nick Seeler threw himself in front of a puck that nailed him. Like anything with Nick Seeler, it looked like it hurt terribly, but he was back on his skates seconds later.

Michkov on a mission

Matvei Michkov never got the memo it wasn’t a meaningful game. The Russian winger had a great breakaway chance early that Montreal keeper Jakub Dobes got a piece of. Later Michkov got the primary assist on a Porter Martone goal. Martone’s deflection opened the scoring.

Michkov, who might have had an extra bit of mojo with Ivan Demidov on the other side, looked like a man possessed. His second point of the night came on Bonk’s goal, but he was once again extremely engaged from the outset. The second helper also was Michkov’s fiftieth point of the year. But he wasn’t done.

In period two, with Michkov having eight shots on goal thus far, he scored his twentieth of the season and earned his third point of the evening.

Ersson good

Sam Ersson got the start in the finale. With Dan Vladar getting a well-earned rest, it might have been surprising Ersson would play, especially with Aleksei Kolosov available. However, Ersson was quite tidy, square to the shooters and cutting down the angles against a fully fleshed out Montreal lineup. Turning aside all 12 shots in period one, the Flyers goalie made a great save in the second on Zack Bolduc with a bevy of people in front of him.

The goalie couldn’t be blamed for Montreal’s first goal, ensuring the Flyers went the entire season without registering a shutout. Philadelphia wasn’t able to get the puck deep and the Canadiens transitioned quickly for a pretty goal. Ersson made a great save on Cole Caufield in the second, leaving Caulfield, Ersson, and the officials trying to figure out where exactly the puck ended up. It was somewhere in his equipment, and delayed the game a few minutes. Ersson found the puck eventually which got a cheer. His best of the night was on a rushing Juraj Slafkovsky, getting his right pad out to keep it a 3-1 Flyers lead.

His one miscue was late in the second, when he wasn’t able to squeeze the puck and it slipped through his legs. Jake Evans was able to dive and get his stick on it to push it over the line.

Jiricek’s Flyers debut

David Jiricek might have been overshadowed by the first period McDonald and Bonk had, but Jiricek looked fine paired with Nick Seeler. While not the swiftest skater, Jiricek was able to get out of trouble a few times without Montreal capitalizing. The offensive gifts were also shown occasionally, with Jiricek getting a gorgeous little pass off to Noah Juulsen midway through the middle frame for a long-range shot.

Perhaps the biggest attraction with Jiricek was his shot, which he showcased in the second. It’s hard and it’s heavy, something the Flyers are still looking for on the power play. Maybe this is one of the answers to resolve that. He ended the night with nearly 20 minutes of ice time, and started to make the Bobby Brink trade look like a very wise one for the organization.

BBM fun to watch

The trio of Alex Bump, Denver Barkey, and Porter Martone made some great plays throughout the night. Barkey’s partial break in the second might have been the nicest, but Dobus saved the day. To say they were driving play would be a gross understatement. Even though the line won’t be a line when the playoffs start in Pittsburgh, the talent and skill on display among the trio had to make many smile about what’s on the horizon for the trio and the Flyers. The line scored an insurance goal in the third to make it 4-2, this one by Bump with a high wrister and Martone (who finished the night with 5 shots) with his tenth point of the season.

And finally…

Thanks for reading and commenting on all 82 regular season recaps this year. It’s greatly appreciated. And for the first time in some time, there will be more recaps to come when the Flyers face the Penguins in the opening round. Stay tuned.

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