For 20 minutes it looked like the Flyers were about to put their recent troubles behind themselves.
But as we all know, it takes 60 minutes (or more) to complete a hockey game and on Tuesday night, the Flyers needed all of them.
After taking a 3-0 lead in the first period, the Flyers turned around and surrendered four goals to the Montreal Canadiens in the second, leaving them down, 4-3, heading into the final period.
Not to be denied in the third frame, the Flyers got a tying goal from rookie Nikita Grebenkin, his first in the NHL, at 10:51, to tie the score again.
The game went to a shootout and the Flyers wound up with the 5-4 win on a goal by Trevor Zegras at the Bell Centre in Montreal. It was the Flyers’ first road win of the season (1-2-1). They finished with a season-high 42 shots on net. And it was the third time the Flyers have won after trailing going into the third period this season.
Philadelphia used a pair of Bobby Brink goals to lead the way for their 3-0 edge. They held a 12-2 margin in shots in the first period and controlled play in all three zones.
The second period was a completely different story.
Montreal picked up a pair of goals from Kirby Dach, at 3:12 and 13:28, plus single markers from Nick Suzuki and Ivan Demidov (power play) to take the lead.
After not giving up more than two goals in each of his first six starts this season, Dan Vladar has now allowed four in each of his last two. But he stopped all three Montreal shots in the shootout.
Cam York liked the way the Flyers stuck with it after giving up the lead in the second.
“We had a game plan going into the game and I thought we executed,” York said. “It was a great start for us, obviously the second wasn’t our best but we battled in the third.”
What fueled the late rally?
“I think we settled down,” York said. “We won the first, they won the second and it was just a battle for the third period. Who was going to win that one was going to win the game. It was a gutsy win.”
Sean Couturier said if not for a few ill-timed penalties, the outcome might have gone the Flyers’ way sooner.
“Going to the net, getting on the inside, that’s what we’ve been talking about,” Couturier said. “Getting bodies there. I thought we played good overall. We just caught with penalties. But we stuck with it. We deserved those two points.”
It was a satisfying outcome for coach Rick Tocchet.
“I liked the resolve in the third,” Tocchet stated. “I think we held them to one chance in the third. And we had 42 shots. Good effort by everyone tonight.”
Tocchet said the team met at the hotel on Sunday night to go over plans to simplify the game plan a bit.
“They took the information and they applied it tonight,” he said.
It was all Flyers in the first period as the visitors scored more goals than Montreal had shots on net.
That matched the entire Flyers’ offensive output in weekend losses to Toronto and Calgary.
Brink kicked things off just 1:56 after the opening faceoff. He was in the right place at the right time, redirecting Travis Sanheim’s long shot past goalie Sam Montambeault.
The Flyers then took advantage of a pair of Montreal penalties called just 28 seconds apart to score a pair of goals.
While Philadelphia held the two-man advantage, Zegras made a sensational pass to defenseman Cam York, who hit the net at 7:07. That gave the Flyers power-play goals in five of their last six games.
After the York goal, the Flyers still had a one-man advantage and converted again. Brink hit the net at 7:50 to make it 3-0.
Montreal quickly scored a pair of goals early in the second period. Dach took advantage of a fortuitous bounce, then, during a penalty to Sanheim, Suzuki scored at 4:15. Things just kept going downhill after that.
During a first intermission televised interview, Brink said the offensive outburst in the first period was the result of a more concerted effort to get bodies in close.
“Just get to the net,” he said. “We were getting to the net well. That’s where goals are scored. We did that better in the first.”
Since Tyson Foerster is out due to injury, Brink played with Sean Couturier and Matvei Michkov. No problem with those two skill players.
“You just have to get your head up a little bit better,” Brink said. “Kind of know who you’re playing with. Know their strengths and it becomes more predictable.”
>Short shots
Rodrigo Abols was a late scratch and was replaced by Nick Deslauriers.
With Foerster on IR, the Flyers shuffled their lines. Owen Tippett joined the pairing of Zegras and Christian Dvorak. As mentioned, Couturier centered Brink and Michkov. Noah Cates had Travis Konecny on his wings and Deslauriers and Garnet Hathaway manned the wings around Jacob Gaucher.
The Flyers head to Nashville for their next game on Thursday night.
Zegras had two assists and the first one was his 200th NHL point.
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