Second-period jinx hits again as Philadelphia wins 7-3
Another tough night for Carey Price, pulled again after allowing six goals
The skinny: The second period has been the Canadiens’ Achilles heel and that was the situation again Monday night as the Philadelphia Flyers scored four goals to take a commanding 6-3 lead and they went on to beat the Canadiens 7-3 at the Bell Centre. Scott Hartnell scored two of his three goals in the second period, while Claude Giroux and Jakub Voracek each contributed a goal and two assists. No. 1 with asterisk: The Canadiens have a one-point edge over Boston in the Northeast Division, but the Bruins have a game in hand. Their home game against Ottawa was postponed following the bombings near the end of the Boston Marathon. More of the same: The Canadiens picked up where they left off Saturday night in Toronto and that wasn’t good. The Flyers scored twice on their first five shots, which meant that Carey Price had given up five goals on nine shots. Wayne Simmonds opened the scoring at 2:45 when Price allowed a big rebound on a shot by Sean Couturier. But Simmonds might not have had a chance if Ryan White had been the third man back on the rush. There were no excuses for Price on the second goal as he allowed Erik Gustafsson’s shot to dribble through the five hole. Boos to cheers: There was a chorus of boos when the Canadiens failed to get a shot on goal during their first power play and again when Price had to stop Ruslan Fedotenko on a short-handed effort on their second power play. But the Canadiens’ power play, which ranks fourth in the NHL, took advantage of two penalties to Oliver Lauridsen to briefly tie the game at 2-2. Max Pacioretty tipped a shot from Tomas Plekanec at 19:02 of the first period and Brendan Gallagher was in front of the net to convert a pass from Pacioretty at the 38-second mark in the second period. Short night for Price: Price was yanked after giving up six goals on 29 shots over the first two periods. It’s the first time in his career that Price has been pulled from consecutive games. Even shorter night for White: With Brandon Prust taking a night off, Ryan White returned to the lineup after three games as a healthy scratch. But he was ejected at 6:11 of the first period for taking a head shot at Kent Huskins. White received a major and a game misconduct as well as a five-minute major for a fight with Kurtis Foster. What’s next: The Canadiens travel to Pittsburgh Wednesday to play the Penguins (7 p.m., TSN, RDS, TSN-690 Radio) before returning to the Bell Centre for their final regular-season home games, Thursday against Tampa Bay and Saturday against the Washington Capitals.