Canadiens vs. Flyers Top Six Minutes: Montreal absconds with a point

• Garrett Rank is officiating this game, so brace accordingly.

First period

• Despite Montreal spending the opening two shifts in the offensive zone, the first shot of the game goes to the Flyers, and a tip in the high slot from Bobby Brink gets past Samuel Montembeault.
• Montreal attempts to do something similar with a pass off Alex Newhook’s stick, but the puck goes off the post.
• He did that in the last game as well, so we’ll see what his final word is this evening.
• Mike Matheson is going to the box for sending the puck over the glass.
• Noah Dobson joins him after a cross-check along the boards less than 30 seconds into the kill.
• Trevor Zegras sends the pass across to Cam York at the top of the circles. Montembeault didn’t track the puck and didn’t see the shot come in to make it 2-0.
• It’s is now 3-0, and that would normally be the end of Montembeault’s night. He did make the first save, however. Montreal being in first place and being able to afford an off night will get him a reprieve.
• Montreal will get its first power play as Brendan Gallagher is interfered with on the forecheck.
• Ivan Demidov finds Cole Caufield from across the ice with a zipped pass, and it would have been a goal had Caufield hit the target because goaltender Dan Vladar had no chance of keeping up with the movement.
• The Flyers have two power-play goals, the Canadiens have zero power-play shots.
• Montreal is just tossing the puck around the offensive zone without any real strategy. Very strange. They usually at least have a setup in mind.
• The Habs get their second shot with 80 seconds to play, bringing a sarcastic cheer from the crowd.
• It’s hard to play a period much worse than that. Montreal will need to be a lot better in the second if they want a chance to win this game.

Second period

• Nothing has chanced to begin this frame, as the Flyers start it off on offence.
• Montreal needed something positive, and it’s Kirby Dach who makes it happen. He began the whole sequence by taking the puck behind his own net so a stickless Noah Dobson could get off the ice, and ended it by pounding in a puck that bounced to him off the end-boards.

Noah Dobson misses a point shot, but it goes right off the boards to Kirby Dach, and he gets one back for the #Habs

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— Matt Drake (@drakemt.bsky.social) November 4, 2025 at 9:11 PM

• The Canadiens immediately go on a power play with an opportunity to make it a one-goal game.
• Nick Suzuki does just such a thing. He extends his point streak to 12 games off another exceptional pass from Demidov.

Cole Caufield tries to set up Ivan Demidov for the one timer, can't shoot it, but he can set up Nick Suzuki to make it 3-2. #Habs climbing their way back into this one.

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— Matt Drake (@drakemt.bsky.social) November 4, 2025 at 9:14 PM

• A won faceoff and some quick movement to get another shot on goal.
• These look like the Montreal Canadiens.
• The NHL might confiscate Demidov’s sticks at some point and make sure he doesn’t have some kind of heat-seeking technology in there. He has perfectly placed long-distance passes.
• Matheson is tripped as he’s trying to carry the puck to the boards to begin a breakout, and Demidov will go back to work on the power play.
• Slafkovský whacks at the puck in the crease, and has to defend himself from a couple of angry Flyers players. Both be and Garnet Hathaway head to the box.
• Suzuki lands a big hit on Christian Dvorak at centre ice, but Philadelphia still gets a short-handed breakaway out of it. Montembeault comes up with his best save of the season to keep the score at 3-2.
• Joe Veleno will go to the box for a shoulder to Jamie Drysdale’s head, and he’s taken too many offensive-zone penalties already.
• Dvorak and Sean Couturier miss back-to-back wide-open chances on the backdoor to bail out some poor PK coverage.
• Jake Evans gets a short-handed breakaway, but fires the puck off the post.
• Lane Hutson draws the attention of three defenders on his side of the ice with his mesmerizing spinning technique, and that allowed Dach to have a little bit of space near the net to bang in his second goal of the game.

Lane Hutson shake and bake on the half wall, gets below the line and throws it at the net, on to Kirby Dach for his second of the night. #Habs have erased a three-goal deficit.

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— Matt Drake (@drakemt.bsky.social) November 4, 2025 at 9:36 PM

• Pretty amazing that the Bell Centre is ringing out with Olés with six minutes to play in this period after how the first one looked.
• Brink decided kicking out the foot of Demidov is his best bet to score his hat-trick goal, and he’ll have to come up with a new strategy during his two minutes or less.
• Hutson finds himself in a dangerous spot standing still at the blue line with the puck in his feet, but he manages to get the puck over to a more open Slafkovský, who then gets it up to Ivan Demidov. Because the Flyers saw a chance to pounce, they only had one defender down low. and Demidov decided to fire the puck instead of shooting it, putting his team in the lead.

Ivan Demidov with an absolute LASER, short side top cheddar, gives the #Habs a 4-3 lead

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— Matt Drake (@drakemt.bsky.social) November 4, 2025 at 9:41 PM

• Dach gives the Habs a challenging end to the period as they have to kill off a two-minute holding penalty.
• Newhook follows up a Dobson short-handed rush, but probably gets a bit too cute after the rebound came right to him in the slot.
• Montembeault makes another great save on a cross-crease pass, ensuring the Habs take their lead into the second intermission.

Third period

• Xhekaj and Nicolas Deslauriers drop the gloves at centre ice. Delauriers kept Xhekaj off-balance and unable to land many good punches, and took the win.
• Caufield tried to fake a move behind the net before a late shift to come back out front, but Vladar read it.
• Another important save from Montembeault. He’s had no less of a hand in this comeback than the forwards who are scoring the goals.
• The ref sees a Flyer fall into the boards after contact from behind from Caufield, ignoring the fact he spun into said contact attempting a reverse hit in the first place.
• Montreal is quite lucky that Philadelphia keeps missing its prime scoring chances on the power play. A lot of two-on-ones at the top of the crease.
• Caufield does very well on the backcheck to play the puck away from the carrier and get the play turned around. He’s often been the first forward back in this situations this season.
• The crowd starts a wave with Montreal hemmed in its own zone. The 4-4 goal puts an end to that. Montembeault was compromised by being forced to play without a stick.
• Montreal has elevated its play for the final minutes.
• Dach gets tripped as he tries to get to the puck and keep a long offensive-zone shift going. No call on that play.
• That will be a point, which you have to say is a win after they came out for the second period down three goals.

Overtime

• Can Montreal extend its overtime record to a perfect 6-0? There’s a lot of skill that can be deployed on each side.
• The Flyers hold possessions for the opening minute.
• After that, it’s all Montreal, but they can’t really get any two-on-one setups they’re looking for.
• The officials allow the Flyers to get away with too many men, and then interference on Demidov.
• But they don’t let Demidov get away with a slash. There will be an eight-second penalty kill to end this OT.
• Nick Suzuki throws himself at the one shot Philadelphia gets, and we’re off to the first shootout of the season. Not quite the excitement of an OT winner

Shootout

• Demidov starts off with some dekes, but Vladar’s legs are too long to make them work.
• Zegras goes five-hole to give the Flyers the advantage.
• Caufield goes in slow and then tries a quick snapshot, but Vladar gets his paddle on it.
• Matvei Michkov is stopped by Montembeault to keep the game going.
• Suzuki comes out to even things up. He sent Vladar the wrong way, but the goalie was able to get his stick back on the puck to seal the win.
• You can’t argue the Flyers didn’t deserve that win, so Montreal will just be happy with the point.

EOTP 3 Stars

3) The roads all seem to lead to overtime anyway

2) A very important response from him

1) Life seems pretty great there