Montreal 2 Philadelphia 3 (Wells Fargo Center )
“Unless it’s out of the goodness of someone’s heart, I don’t like having things given to me for free. I like working hard for what I earn. It gives me a sense of gratitude, and that’s the only way I can truly appreciate it.” — Sasha Azevedo
MONTREAL, QC.– You put your hand in your coat pocket and find a $20 bill. After you check your numbers and tear up the lottery ticket, you regret blowing your found money.
Why is the head of cauliflower given as a bonus for buying groceries at IGA most often forgotten and later found mouldy at the back of the vegetable bin in the frig?
We don’t appreciate things we get for free.
Not to say that the Canadiens didn’t play well enough to be leading after the first period, but Max Lapierre would have a hard time scoring during the intermission scrimmage with the same dribbling shot that lit the lamp. Twice. Fortunately, Lapierre wasn’t facing a Timbits goalie, but Brian Boucher.
Philadelphia served up a present to their guests, in the form of terrible goaltending by Boucher with the netminder at the opposite end standing on his head. The Canadiens eventually frittered away the gift.
While coach Peter Laviolette was peeling paint in the Flyers dressing room after the first period, his counterpart Jacques Martin should have been encouraging his team to remain aggressive. With Philadelphia trying to play catchup they were vulnerable to the Canadiens transition game and speed. The Habs could have taken advantage of a fragile goaltender.
But the old coach went back to his comfort zone, passive hockey. Montreal was outshot 21-to-5 in the second period with the Flyers scoring once. It could have been a lot worse if not for the play of Carey Price.
Elliotte Friedman, from Hockey Night in Canada tweeted, “Flyers might be up 100-2 if it wasn’t for Carey Price tonight.”
An exaggeration, but only slightly.
With Price giving a superhuman effort to keep the Habs in the game, could Martin motivate the rest of the team to capitalize on such an outstanding performance? Apparently not. Montreal couldn’t change the momentum of the second period and the Flyers scored twice in the third for the win.
The game didn’t live up to the fight-card billing. Daniel Briere’s dirty spear to the groin of Lars Eller went uncalled early in the contest. But the rough stuff took a back seat with the Flyers trailing most of the game.
The Habs didn’t take advantage of their lead, and instead decided to apply the brakes. Philadelphia dominated the final two periods and skated away with a win. Montreal lost for the first time in regulation when scoring first.
The Canadiens chartered back to Montreal after the game. They will host the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday night at the Bell Centre.
Plus/Minus
▲ Price was the best player on the ice for either team. Price had shutout the Flyers for 94:53 this season before Ville Leino’s second period goal. He has not had a bad start this year.
▲ P.K. Subban was supposed to be a target in this game. That didn’t materialize and Subban played a solid 19 minutes.
► It was a mixed bag for Jeff Halpern, Max Lapierre and Benoit Pouliot. The trio were on the ice for four goals: two for the Habs (softies by Boucher) and two against.
▼ Did Mike Richards even play? After all the pre-game hype, Philly’s captain was very quiet with one assist, one shot on goal and one hit.
▼ Alexandre Picard continues to struggle after his return to the lineup, often finding himself well out of position. His man during the 4-on-4, James Van Riemsdyk, scored the winning goal for the Flyers.
All Habs game stars
1. Carey Price
2. Josh Gorges
3. P.K.Subban
Roster notes
Dustin Boyd and Mathieu Darche were healthy scratches. Andrei Markov is out with a knee injury.
(Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)