Three Standout Players In Flyers Overtime Win vs Canadiens

These three players performed well in the Philadelphia Flyers overtime win vs the Montreal Canadiens.

Finishing off the second half of a back-to-back, the Philadelphia Flyers visited the Centre Bell to take on the Montreal Canadiens. The Flyers were looking for their fourth straight win and to extend their point streak to six while the Habs wanted to snap a six-game losing skid. Brian Elliott got the nod from Head Coach Alain Vigneault and opposed Keith Kinkaid in-net. Philippe Myers also entered the lineup for Robert Hagg after sitting in the press box on Friday.

Montreal started hot, scoring the game’s first goal just 19 seconds in off of a shot from Joel Armia to take a 1-0 lead. It wasn’t a dangerous shot by any means, either, and was one Elliott undoubtedly should’ve saved with ease. The veteran netminder did a good job of settling in as the period went on, though, saving the other eight shots he saw to keep Philadelphia within one after one.

The Flyers were able to find the equalizer early in the second as Oskar Lindblom deflected a point-shot from Justin Braun past Kinkaid for his 11th goal of the 2019-20 campaign. Montreal would eventually get it back thanks to Tomas Tatar, who pounced on a loose puck in front to make it a 2-1 affair. It wouldn’t take long for the Fly Guys to tie it back up, scoring just over 40 seconds after Tatar’s tally as a result of Kevin Hayes’ 100th career goal. All three goals were scored within less than two minutes of each other and were all the two teams could muster up as the game stayed tied at 2-2 heading into the third.

Travis Konecny put his team ahead 3-2 with a beauty of a snipe to open the stanza but in typical Flyers fashion, surrendered a goal almost directly following it as Tatar scored his second of the night on a power-play to once again knot things up. Both squads had their opportunities to take the lead but ultimately couldn’t beat Elliott or Kinkaid for the fourth time in regulation, leading to overtime where Ivan Provorov went coast-to-coast for the game-winning goal. Let’s watch it in all of its’ glory:

My. Goodness.

Among my list of standouts, I have to put Hayes on here. The 6’5 centerman was able to rebound from an awful first-period performance and create a litany of shots and chances in the second. He capitalized on one of them, too, potting his eighth of the year to tie things back up after the Flyers had allowed a goal shortly after Braun scored his. Not only did this extend his point streak to three, but he also put himself in a three-way tie for third on the team in goals. Having the 27-year-old go from ice cold to red hot in a month’s time has helped the Flyers tremendously, giving them some much-needed scoring depth at the forward position.

Additionally, the Provorov and Matt Niskanen pairing were nothing short of stellar for the Flyers yet again. The two have found a great deal of chemistry while playing together on the top-pair and it showed against the Canadiens. Both Provorov and Niskanen led all Flyers defensemen in Corsi, Fenwick, and Scoring Chances For percentages at 5-on-5, per Natural Stat Trick, doing everything a top-duo should throughout the 60+ minute contest. Oh, and Provorov did the dang thing in overtime if you had already forgotten, deking his way by a Habs defender and netting the game-winner in OT.

Lastly, but certainly not least-ly, how could I not mention Elliott as a standout? Though the first goal he let in was without a doubt one he should’ve had, the man they call Moose eventually found his barrings and kept this game from being a blowout in Montreal’s favor. Most notably, he made a highlight-reel save on former Flyers forward Jordan Weal while Philadelphia was down a man to keep the game tied after 40 minutes of play, sprawling across the crease to rob Weal with the stick. Elliott ended the twilight, night, whatever you’d call it saving 39 shots on 42 attempts, putting together another solid showing between the pipes for the Orange and Black.

The Flyers are now 15-7-5 on the year! Next game is Tuesday against the Toronto Maple Leafs.