Price turns away 32 shots as Habs beat Flyers 3-1
CANADIENS 3, FLYERS 1
PHILADELPHIA The Montreal Canadiens continue to have trouble scoring goals, but they took a 2-0 lead in the second period and held on to defeat the Philadelphia Flyers 3-1 Tuesday night at the Wells Fargo Center.
Carey Price was the difference in this game, as he made 32 saves.
Price and the Canadiens snapped a two-game losing streak, but they are still sitting in ninth place in the Eastern Conference, which leaves them outside a playoff position. The Canadiens did deliver a blow to the Flyers’ playoff ambitions as they moved five points ahead of Philadelphia.
Brendan Gallagher matched his career high for goals in a season when he opened the scoring with his 31st at 18:21 of the opening period. It was a typical Gallagher goal as he connected from the slot after Carter Hart made the save on Christian Folin’s shot from the point. Tomas Tatar was in front and pushed the puck back to Gallagher.
The goal was part of a flurry toward the end of the first period that gave the Canadiens an 11-8 edge on the shot clock. A strong defensive effort by the Flyers prevented the margin from being greater. There was a stretch of eight minutes in the middle of the period when neither team managed a shot on goal, with the Flyers blocking six shots during that span.
Captain Shea Weber gave the Canadiens some breathing room when he scored his 12th goal of the season at 4:45 of the second period to give Montreal a 2-0 lead. As Weber slapshots go, this was not a burner, but it was on target and Hart was screened by Andrew Shaw, who was battling with a defender in front of the net. The scoring play began when Shaw won an offensive-zone faceoff against Sean Couturier. The puck went to Max Domi in the corner and he set up Weber at the blue line.
Couturier ended Price’s hopes for his fourth shutout of the season and gave the Flyers the momentum when he scored a power play goal at 8:42 of the third period. Couturier scored on a goalmouth scramble after James Van Riemsdyk and Claude Giroux both had a swipe at the puck. It was Couturier’s 30th goal of the season.
Domi completed the scoring with an empty-net goal. It was his 25th of the season.
Tatar’s assist on the opening goal gave him 51 points for the season, moving him into second place on the team scoring list, three points behind Domi and one ahead of Jonathan Drouin, who continues to struggle offensively. Drouin has failed to collect a point in 16 of his last 17 games. Drouin failed to get a shot on goal in Tuesday’s contest.
Coach Claude Julien unveiled a new power play alignment during the morning skate Tuesday, but there was no chance to test its strength because the Canadiens did not draw a single penalty.
The Canadiens return home for games against the New York Islanders Thursday and Buffalo Sabres Saturday before travelling to Carolina on Sunday.