WIN AND GRIN
Couturier’s OT goal gives Flyers victory over Canadiens
PHILADELPHIA » Sean Couturier flipped a shot from the slot that trickled past a surprised Carey Price just 55 seconds into overtime to give the Philadelphia Flyers to a 3-2 victory over the Montreal Canadiens Thursday night.
Price had been fantastic in regulation but somehow let the first shot of OT slip past him. He was stunned as the Flyers went wild and celebrated another victory around him.
The Flyers have rebounded from a slow start to earn a point in a season-high fourth straight game (3-0-1) and they won in front of another lethargic Philly crowd. Phil Myers and James van Riemsdyk also scored for the Flyers, and Carter Hart stopped 22 shots.
Ben Chiarot and Shea Weber scored for Montreal. Price stopped 40 shots and was the first star of the game in a losing effort.
The Flyers are 6-1-1 at home under coach Alain Vigneault. They rebounded in OT after blowing a 2-0 lead.
Myers swiped the puck from a scrum and shot through traffic from two steps inside the blue line to score his first goal of the season. The Flyers took the last eight shots of the first period and had a whopping 34 overall through two periods — or, about one for every fan at the game. Once the toughest ticket in town, the Flyers played at a Wells Fargo Center thousands of fans short of a sellout. Rage rooms and Gritty and fancy cocktails haven’t gotten fans to turn out for a team that hasn’t won a playoff round since 2012.
The ones that did come saw van Riemsdyk score his fourth goal of the season off a scramble in front of the net for a 2-0 lead in the second.
Hart, who had been fantastic in a matchup against his goalie idol, couldn’t hold the lead. Chiarot beat Flyers forward Kevin Hayes to a rebound and knocked in the puck from one knee late in the second to make it a one-goal game.
Weber evened it early in the third on a one-timer for his third goal of the season. Price was sensational against a Flyers team that took 42 shots in regulation. NOTES » The Ed Snider Youth Hockey Foundation and the Goals & Assists program presented a $500,000 donation to West Chester University toward scholarship money for hockey program students to use at WCU. The organizations have donated $1 million for students of the Snider hockey program to use at West Chester.