FLYERS OUST CANADIENS TO ADVANCE

Ivan Provorov, Kevin Hayes and Michael Raffl scored, and the Flyers reached the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time in eight years with a 3-2 victory against the Canadiens in Game 6 of their first-round series Friday in Toronto.

The Flyers, who also got 31 saves from goalie Carter Hart, won the series 4-2 and will play the Islanders in the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs.

The Flyers opened the scoring 28 seconds into the game when Provorov redirected the puck past Canadiens goalie Carey Price. Hayes beat Price about six minutes later for a 2-0 lead.

The Flyers have made it this far in the postseason without any major production from their top scorers. Travis Konecny (24 goals in the regular season), Hayes (23), Sean Couturier (22), Claude Giroux (21) and James van Riemsdyk (19) all had failed to score a goal entering Game 6. The Flyers even scratched van Riemsdyk for multiple games during the playoffs.

The Flyers played without defenseman Matt Niskanen after the NHL suspended him for one game for breaking Canadiens wing Brendan Gallagher’s jaw with a crosscheck in Game 5 on Wednesday.

Nick Suzuki scored two goals for the Canadiens.

MILBURY APOLOGIZES FOR REMARK

NBC Sports analyst Mike Milbury apologized for saying during a broadcast Thursday that there weren’t women in the NHL playoff bubbles in Toronto and Edmonton, Alberta, to disrupt anyone’s concentration.

He made the comments during a game between the Islanders and Capitals. During a discussion among the broadcasters about the environment in the bubble, Milbury said there are ‘‘not even any women here to disrupt your concentration.’’

‘‘It was not my intention to disrespect anyone,’’ Milbury said in a statement released by NBC. ‘‘I was trying to be irreverent and took it a step too far. It was a regrettable mistake that I take seriously.’’

NBC Sports said in a statement that it had addressed the issue with Milbury. ✶