First period
- Christian Dvorak’s line earns two different two-on-ones, but neither Dvorak nor Gallagher risked a pass through a defender that could have set up a quick goal.
- Less than two minutes in, Matvei Michkov scores. Yet again the Canadiens are playing from behind.
- Shots are 6-1 Philadelphia. I don’t know what Montreal’s plan was for this game.
- The first TV timeout was used to rile everyone up it seems. The Habs look much better now.
- And on the next shift Alex Newhook ties the game.
Alex Newhook blows by the Flyers defence, rips one past Ersson to tie the game
— Scott Matla (@scottmatla.bsky.social) March 27, 2025 at 8:24 PM
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- Lane Hutson recorded his 50th assist of the season with the secondary helper on the goal.
- Nicolas Deslauriers is left alone at the side of the crease, and makes it 2-1. Montreal is making things very easy for them tonight.
- It’s 3-1- Flyers. The two defencemen in front of the net were … Patrik Laine and Joshua Roy. Are we about to see a goalie change or the second consecutive game? They kind of need Samuel Montembeault fresh for tomorrow.
- This is the worst the Canadiens have looked all year. Yes, defending worse than they did in October.
- Tysor Foerster fires the puck off the post behind Dobes.
- St-Louis has once again channelled his inner John Tortorella during the latest TV timeout trying to get the message across that this is actually a pretty important game.
- Dobes makes two great saves, first on a Michkov breakaway, then on Travis Konecny. Those might end up being critical stops.
- Hutson is going to get Montreal back in this game by himself. That looked like one of his shifts from his time at Boston University, all over the place creating chances.
- If you can take a step back for a second, it’s actually kind of comical that the Canadiens addressed the passive defence they’d shown versus Colorado and St. Louis by just racing away from the front of then net in the first period. I think they took the instruction to play a more aggressive style to the extreme.
- Anyway, the game is far from over with Samuel Ersson in Philadelphia’s net. Montreal has often scored four goals recently, they can manage at least that versus one of the league’s worst starters.
Second period
- Not exactly the urgency I expected to see from Montreal in the middle frame. They do look like the better team, but only marginally. They should just be peppering Ersson with shots right now.
- Josh Anderson pulls up on a zone entry and fires a shot through a screen. Ersson made the save, but he didn’t react until the puck had already deflected off his arm.
- On his next shift, Anderson gets grabbed behind the net, and Montreal will have the game’s first power play.
- Laine misses the net two times on the first wave’s shift. It was actually just one shift because those five players were out for the full two minutes. Good setups, but no second goal.
- It hasn’t been a physical game, but Juraj Slafkovský didn’t like the Flyers getting in Dobes’s vicinity after he’d frozen the puck. Both he and Travis Konecny go off after a wrestling match.
- Brendan Gallagher goes to the box for … knocking down Jamie Drysdale as he’s holding the puck. I guess the ref thought Philadelphia needed a power play, too.
- Deslauriers almost scored a second goal in this game — a second goal of the season.
- Gallagher gets crunched into the boards by Rodrigo Abols, and heads right off to the Canadiens’ dressing room.
- I think the ref was looking for a call to make after missing that one, and tags Bobby Brink for slashing when play resumes.
- Suzuki fires a shot in the dying seconds of the period that gets behind Ersson but off the post. Montreal is still down the same two goals it was after the first
Third period
- Cole Caufield banks the puck off the side of Ersson and in early in the third. We have a game now.
Another point for Lane Hutson as Cole Caufield scores his 34th of the season Habs trailing 3-2
— Scott Matla (@scottmatla.bsky.social) March 27, 2025 at 10:05 PM
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- Not just another goal with the Struble-Hutson pairing on the ice, but both defencemen also recorded points on the play.
- The crowd groans as Caufield is announced as the goal-scorer. I guess they don’t feel Cam York is the better player.
- Two more big saves from Dobes on a Flyers power play.
- He’s going to be called upon to make some more because Anderson was called for roughing.
- Konecny touches the puck for an intentional offside call. That was probably a smart decision, but Montreal would have delayed to kill off 30 seconds of the remaining minute.
- The penalties are done, and there are still 14 minutes for the Canadiens to fins a tying goal.
- Pierre Houde just said that Arber Xhekaj has played seven minutes tonight, so I think we know who’s coming out for Kaiden Guhle’s return.
- Tyson Foerster makes it 4-2 with under 10 minutes to play.
- Martin St-Louis is considering a challenge for goaltender interference. He calls his timeout, and decides to go through with it. I suppose there’s nothing to lose at this point.
- The call stands, and the Canadiens are back on the penalty kill.
- Montreal sends three players in a short-handed rush, and that means it’s a three-on-one going the other way when they don’t score. Philadelphia makes it 5-2.
- Dvorak accepts a pass from Anderson on a two-on-one and Montreal makes it 5-3.
- And 6-3 Flyers as they immediately get a two-on-zero following a Matheson misplay.
- Dobes has gone to the bench in one last desperate attempt to get a point out of this game.
- Well, it works once. Laine makes it 6-4.
- That’s as close as Montreal can get, and those are two big points they were unable to grab tonight. they underestimated just how much the Flyers hated playing for Tortorella.
EOTP 3 Stars
3) He just needs some conditioning work so he can play all 60 minutes
2) He needs more specific instructions
1) Finally Hutson will be able to accumulate some assists
