Philadelphia Flyers Playoff Hopes Take Another Hit in Loss to Canadiens

The Philadelphia Flyers hosted the Montreal Canadiens at the Wells Fargo Center in a pivotal matchup for both teams’ playoff hopes.

Coming off a victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins in their last contest, the Philadelphia Flyers looked to make it two in a row and keep their slim playoff chances alive as they faced the Montreal Canadiens.

Carter Hart received the start from Interim Head Coach Scott Gordon and opposed Carey Price in-net. Price was up to his old tricks coming in, posting a 2.57 Goals-Against Average with a .915 save percentage. The 12 year net-minder did struggle in a couple of his previous starts heading into this matchup, and the Flyers needed to take full advantage in order to gain ground in the Wild Card race.

The teams traded scoring chances throughout most of the first period, with both Hart and Price standing firm for their respective squads. Montreal was able to create more dangerous of chances, though, which eventually led to a goal from Brendan Gallagher late in the opening frame. Gallagher was able to find a loose puck in the slot and snipe thew puck right passed Hart to give his team a one goal lead after 20 minutes of play.

Philadelphia continued to struggle with putting any substantial pressure on Price during the second, with most of their shots coming from the point without a lot of traffic in front of the net. This once again came back to bite them, as Shea Weber scored his 12th goal of the year off of a heavily screened point shot. Hart had no chance to make the save given all of the bodies that were in front of him and the Flyers ended up carrying the two goal deficit into the final period of regulation.

The Flyers received the game’s first power-play in the early goings of the third, giving them a primal opportunity to get on the scoreboard. Sean Couturier would capitalize on that opportunity, scoring on a rebound to put Philadelphia within one. This was Couturier’s 30th goal of the season, showing just how impactful he’s been in the second half on the year. Unfortunately, that was all they could muster up as Max Domi potted an empty netter to put the Flyers away, 3-1.

I think it’s now safe to say that the Flyers postseason hopes are officially gone. They now sit three points back of Montreal and could find themselves eight behind Columbus if they win in their game this evening. Even though they’ll fall short, you’ve got to love all of the effort the Orange and Black have put into these last couple of months. The fact that they got this close to a spot in the postseason after being dead last in the NHL at one point is very admirable and appreciated by this fan/blogger.

The Flyers are now 35-30-8 on the year. Next game is Thursday against the Chicago Blackhawks.