PHILADELPHIA – With the regular season in their rearview mirror and a long overdue playoff series looming beyond their windshield, the Flyers used Tuesday night’s no-meaning game vs. Montreal as a good tune-up.
The Flyers rested a bunch of their regulars and still managed to come away with a 4-2 win at Xfinity Mobile Arena.
This gave some of the Flyers’ prospects a chance to showcase their talents and that included young defenseman Oliver Bonk, who scored his first NHL goal in the second period.
That play drew an extra loud roar from the the crowd. And one of those cheering was his father, Radek, a former NHL superstar who was in the house.
Sam Ersson earned the win in goal while starter Dan Vladar had an expected night off. Vladar is getting ready to face the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Flyers’ first postseason playoff series in five years.
Other regulars getting the night off included Sean Couturier, Travis Konecny, Trevor Zegras, Travis Sanheim, Cam York and Jamie Drysdale.
Besides Bonk, a few other Flyers prospects made their debuts, including center Jacob Gaucher, defensemen David Jiricek and Hunter McDonald.
Scoring in your first NHL game had to be a thrill for Bonk.
“I found out this morning,” said Bonk of the phone call to join the Flyers. “I called up my parents and went down.”
Scouting reports say Bonk has been improving all year long.
“I’m just trying to get better every single day,” Bonk said. “I’ve definitely made some strides since I practiced here. Still have a lot to do. Definitely happy with the results today.”
Any pregame advice from dad?
“Just play your own game, don’t be afraid to make mistakes,” Bonk said. “That’s when the most mistakes happen. Not playing too complicated.”
McDonald’s game has really come along since September’s training camp. In this game, he finished a game-high plus-3.
He lowered the boom on Montreal’s Jake Evans right before the Bonk goal and that got both his teammates and the fans pumped up.
“That’s what I want to bring to this team and this league,” he said. “I think I showcased that. When ‘Bonker’ scored, I was ecstatic.”
Coach Rick Tocchet was impressed with all the young players who took part in this game.
Who knows? A couple injuries in the playoffs and these guys might be needed.
“Yeah, in playoffs you can go 28-deep on the roster,” Tocchet said.
The Flyers dominated the first period before the Canadiens broke through in the middle period.
Montreal got on the board at 6:50 of the second when Brendan Gallagher was able to steer a Kaiden Guhle pass beyond the reach of Ersson.
But the Flyers got that one back at 13:52 when Matvei Michkov notched his 20th goal of the season to restore the two-goal margin. Montreal responded with 11 seconds left in the period when Evans beat Ersson to a loose puck lying in the crease.
Alex Bump’s goal at 12:00 of the third restored the Flyers’ two-goal margin.
The Flyers jumped off to a 1-0 lead at 8:08 of the first period on Porter Martone’s fourth goal and ninth point in just nine games. He later added an assist on Bump’s goal to make it 10 points.
With a delayed penalty pending against the Canadiens, Michkov circled to just inside the Montreal blue line and fired. Martone was able to get a piece of the shot for the goal at 8:08.
Then the Flyers picked up a second goal when Bonk, a 2024 first-round draft pick, scored at 14:42. His point blast eluded goalie Jakub Dobes.
Michkov picked up an assist on the play and finished the night with three points.
The Flyers finished the season with 98 points, tying their most (2017-18) since 2011-12 (103 points).
At the start of the season, did Tocchet ever think the Flyers would get this far in his first season?
“I didn’t look at goals, just teach and all that stuff,” Tocchet said. “Playoffs, I really didn’t think that way.”
>Short shots
The Flyers will have Wednesday off and resume practice on Thursday as they prepare for their first-round playoff series against Pittsburgh.
According to the NHL, before Tuesday night’s game Martone was just the fifth Flyers teenager since 1993 to register points in five consecutive games. The others: Couturier, Michkov, Joel Farabee and Nolan Patrick.
McDonald, a physical force with the Phantoms, ran over a few Canadiens during the evening. One particular check leveled a Montreal player and draw a loud cry from the audience.
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