- Josh Anderson has left the team to have a baby, so the Montreal Canadiens won’t have their full energy line tonight. But Oliver Kapanen has entered the lineup to replace him on that trio.
First period
- A bad sign that this is one of those games that starts with Montreal unable to complete a pass. It makes no sense how the entire team can be off.
- Ryan Poehling opens the scoring, his fourth goal in the last four games. That was too predicatable with how Montreal started.
- Alexandre Carrier hits Matvei Michkov in the face with a stick-lift attempt, and this has the potential to go from bad to worse with a four-minute penalty kill.
- The Flyers get a point-blank chance immediately, but Montembeault makes the save.
- That last chance seems to have finally woken the Habs up, and they held possession for almost the entirety of the final three minutes of the kill and had several scoring chances from it.
- Noe they’re cooking. And the fans can finally get into the game.
- The good work results in a power play as Cam York tosses the puck out of play. A good chance to tie this game up.
- Alex Newhook tries to set up Kapanen on a two-on-one, but the pass is ankle high and the Finn can’t make contact. Kapanen gets another chance in the slot moments later that Samuel Ersson stops.
- A strong finish to the period after a rough few minutes put the Habs in a hole. Maintaining that effort level will bring good things … if it comes with some better dexterity to connect on their chances.
First intermission
- Meanwhile, in Toronto, the Maple Leafs are up 1-0 on the Columbus Blue Jackets
Second period
- Garry Galley explains to the nation what the word “turnover” means. What would we do without this commentary?
- I thought Montreal would reset and look better in the second. So far, they do not.
- The Flyers are a little more interested than the Bruins were on Thursday, but even so.
- Jake Evans turns on a two-on-one to see his options and finds Dvorak trailing. Dvorak has plenty of space to get a shot off, but Ersson makes a great glove save.
- Evans does some good work on the forecheck while playing with Dvorak and Brendan Gallagher to create a flurry of chances from the top of the crease.
- Suzuki gets up and gives Jamie Drysdale a light tap on the back of the knees with his stick. That’s as angry as he’s ever been. He didn’t appreciate getting taking out by a player with no chance of making the post-season.
- Jakob Pelletier is off to the box for slashing Caufield on each hand. It seems to be an operation to injure Montreal’s stars right now.
- The top unit spends its time trying to gain the zone and only gets one shot attempt.
- That’s a squandered chance for Montreal.
- Jayden Struble carries the puck into the zone and plays it back to Juraj Slafkovský in the slot. Slafkovský gets it across to Suzuki, but Ersson makes another big save.
- A rather uneventful end to the period as Montreal kept getting turned back in the neutral zone while trying to attack. The Flyers look like the best defensive team in the NHL right now.
Second intermission
- It’s 2-0 Toronto after 40 minutes. Are the three teams in the wild-card battle going to score a combined zero goals today?
Third period
- Gallagher sets up Evans with a perfect pass on a two-on-one, but Evans misses.
- That line doesn’t give up, and Gallagher capitalizes on the pressure, his 20th goal of the season.
20 goals for Gallagher!
— Scott Matla (@scottmatla.bsky.social) April 5, 2025 at 10:02 PM
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- The wild-card teams will, in fact, not be shut out today.
- Evans is beginning to contribute offensively once again.
- A great passing play from the top line and the top pairing ends with Kaiden Guhle sending a shot off the side of the net.
- Hutson reloads in the neutral zone, dekes around three defenders, carries the puck right to the corner, and from the goal line sends a perfect shot past the ear of Ersson for a 2-1 Canadiens lead. That might just be the greatest goal by any Hab this season.
LANE HUTSON END TO END SNIPE HABS LEAD
— Scott Matla (@scottmatla.bsky.social) April 5, 2025 at 10:06 PM
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- Suzuki records the 82nd point he has been striving for for a couple of seasons now. And he’s not done yet.
- What a start to this period. Suddenly the crowd is singing “Olé!” after not daring to breathe for about two hours.
- Ersson has to make another incredible save on a Dvorak shot from a Gallagher rebound. If they can get a third….
- After all this good work, Slafkovský cross-check Sean Couturier into the boards in the one moment Philadelphia has in the offensive zone. A big kill now for his teammates.
- Montembeault makes two tough saves from close range, and has a section of the Bell Centre chanting his name.
- Suzuki thinks about wrapping the puck in as he comes around the back of the net, but loses his footing. He maintains control of the puck, spins amongst three Flyers players, and fires the puck off the post and in. A massive goal.
Nick Suzuki, shorthanded, will finish the season with at least a point per game
— Scott Matla (@scottmatla.bsky.social) April 5, 2025 at 10:20 PM
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- Maybe he will get to 90….
- Caufield and Matheson get tangled up in a collision with a Flyers forward. Matheson looks concerned as Caufield takes a moment to get up after the defenceman’s skate came close to clipping him, but everyone seems fine.
- Ironically, the “Olé!” chants are a little more nervous now than they were at 2-1.
- The Flyers pull Ersson with over three minutes to play.
- Montembeault is coming up big with his team playing five-on-six.
- Matheson plays the puck out and will sit for two minutes. But that will give the Canadiens the ability to ice the puck with 1:47 to go.
- Martin St-Louis calls his timeout.
- A Flyers player whacks Jake Evans’s stick away and the Flyers score on the power play. Officials call that every single time a team tries to gain an extra advantage on a power play. I guess the refs want Philadelphia to tie this game up.
- The do not, and Montreal wins 3-2.
- That playoff spot is starting to come into view.
Post game
- Columbus loses 5-0 to Toronto. It’s a double four-point-swing day for Montreal.
EOTP 3 Stars
3) Take this lesson into tomorrow’s game
2) As he does, he manages to come up with something even better
1) A moment of referee incompetence from a perfect prediction
