Flyers Winning Streak Ends in Shootout Loss to Hapless Habs

MONTREAL, QC - DECEMBER 16: Mike Hoffman #68 of the Montreal Canadiens and Rasmus Ristolainen #70 of the Philadelphia Flyers skate for the puck during the second period at Centre Bell on December 16, 2021 in Montreal, Canada. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)
MONTREAL, QC - DECEMBER 16: Mike Hoffman #68 of the Montreal Canadiens and Rasmus Ristolainen #70 of the Philadelphia Flyers skate for the puck during the second period at Centre Bell on December 16, 2021 in Montreal, Canada. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)

The Flyers took on a seemingly hapless Montreal Canadiens team in an empty Bell Centre tonight looking to notch their fourth straight win. Things didn’t quite go as planned, as the Flyers were felled in the shootout, ending their winning streak.

THE GOOD

BROKEN RECORD: Carter Hart has been objectively fantastic. Pretty much all year. And his being snubbed from the All-Star Game voting is an absolute travesty. While some critics have been quick to pounce on every bad goal and any bad game, Hart is the only reason the Flyers still have a season that can be salvaged, and he was no less incredible here tonight.

NEXT MAN UP: A suddenly depleted Flyers offense has found itself relying more heavily on waiver claims and call ups than anyone expected coming into the year. But tonight, you couldn’t ask much more of the guys stepping in, with both Max Willman and Jackson Cates scoring goals, with Cates’ being his first in the NHL.

THE BAD

SHOOTING GALLERY: Carter Hart faced 19 shots in the first period, breaking the season record for the young netminder. The Flyers have been notorious for slow starts in the past, and while this season has been more noteworthy for incredible implosions, they still allow far too many shots early in games. A team like Montreal has almost nothing breaking its way, and allowing them to get hot early is the exact recipe for an upset.

SHOOTOUT? OUTSHOT: Building on the slow start, the Flyers did a great job of getting even in the shot column. But the goals didn’t come. Playing against a raw as can be Cayden Primeau playing in only his 9th NHL game, you would expect a team’s stars to find their way behind him. The shootout showed that that wouldn’t be the case tonight, even if Cam Atkinson accidentally injures Primeau on the final shootout attempt.

THE UGLY

TRAPPED IN SILENCE: The Flyers again showed that they can’t beat the teams they should, succumbing to the Habs in a shootout tonight. The Habs are a team that has had seemingly everything break against them, even to the point they didn’t have fans in the arena tonight due to increasing COVID-19 cases. Yet despite all this, the Flyers fell short. A telling loss.

THE #BROADSTREETBAGS HAVEN’T SAVED THEM: Everyone seemed ready to accept that the 10 game losing streak was a fluke when Twitter changed all their profiles, and the team started dominating. While a hard fought loss is far from a season ender, the team’s aspirations are sure to take a hit as they’ve failed to beat an easily beatable team.