Flyers oust Canadiens

Philadelphia eliminates Montreal in six games

Philadelphia Flyers goalie Carter Hart grew up rooting for Carey Price and was thrilled to meet his goalie idol this season. Beating the Canadiens and getting congratulated by Price in the handshake line felt so much better for Hart.

“He said, ‘Helluva series’ and he’ll be watching,” Hart said. “Pretty special and definitely something I won’t forget.”

Ivan Provorov, Kevin Hayes and Michael Raffl scored to lead the Philadelphia Flyers into the second round for the first time in eight years with a 3-2 victory against the Montreal Canadiens Friday night in Game 6 at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto.

The Flyers won the series, 4-2, and are on to the semifinals in the Eastern Conference for the first time since 2012. The Flyers have not played in the Stanley Cup Final since 2010 or won the championship since 1975.

The Flyers are a bright spot on the Philadelphia sports scene.

“We’re trying to do our part so people a few hours a day can think about something other than COVID,” Flyers coach Alain Vigneault said.

The Flyers will move on to play the New York Islanders. The Islanders went 3-0 against Philadelphia this season and are coming off of a 4-1 series triumph against the Washington Capitals.

Hart again outplayed his idol and was stout for the Flyers and stopped 31 shots for the top-seeded Flyers

Nick Suzuki scored two goals for the Canadiens.

The Flyers scored just 28 seconds into the game when Provorov redirected one past Price for the lead and the seventh time in the postseason they scored first.

Hayes beat Price about six minutes later for his first goal of the season and 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), Hayes (23), Sean Couturier (22), Claude Giroux (21) and James van Riemsdyk (19) each failed to score a goal headed into Game 6. The Flyers even scratched van Riemsdyk for multiple games in the playoffs.

“We didn’t play up to our capability and we still got four wins,” Hayes said.

The Flyers have received goal production from deep in their lines and Hart, of course, has been fantastic. He had two shutouts against the Canadiens and the 22 year old is playing every bit like the franchise goalie the Flyers expected. He just couldn’t stop Suzuki. Suzuki angered the Flyers -- and he later apologized -- after he tapped Hart on the head after the Canadiens tied the score in Game 5. He gave them more fits in Game 6. He scored late in the first to make it a one-goal game.

Raffl helped create a turnover in the second, led the rush and scored for a 3-1 lead. Suzuki again came through for Montreal and scored his fourth goal in 10 playoff games to make it 3-2 but that was all the offense could muster.

“They were just fortunate to get a couple of bounces early and we just couldn’t find our break,” Canadiens defenseman Shea Weber said.

The Flyers played without defenseman Matt Niskanen after the league suspended him one game for breaking Brendan Gallagher’s jaw. It was a big loss for Montreal; associate coach Kirk Muller called Gallagher “the heartbeat of our team.”

Penguins

John Maniscalco, who grew up in Perkiomenville, Pa., an unincorporated community about an hour outside of Philadelphia, signed with the Penguins as a college free agent out of Arizona State. The three-year, entry-level contract begins in 2020-21 and runs through the 2022-23 campaign. Maniscalco, 21, was one of college hockey’s most productive defensemen last season. Among blue liners, his 11 goals ranked tied for secondmost, and his 32 points were sixth-most at his position. The past two seasons, Maniscalco played alongside Mario Lemieux’s son, Austin. Maniscalco said he remained in contact with Austin during the process . ... In other transactional news, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins signed forwards Felix Robert and Luke Stevens to AHL contracts. Robert, a teammate of Penguins 2019 first-round pick Samuel Poulin, was one of the most productive players in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League last season. He tallied 92 points for the Sherbrooke Phoenix, fourth-most points in the QMJHL. Stevens, 23, meanwhile, is the son of former Penguins forward and twotime Stanley Cup champion Kevin Stevens.