CANADIENS
Montreal

FLYERS
Philadelphia

Game Recap:

Once again, Montreal was dominated in the first period by the opposition.  And just like the game against the Washington Capitals, the Canadiens led this game for precisely zero minutes until they won it in a shootout.  It was the first time since December 10, 1997 that the Canadiens has won a game when entering the third period without a goal and down by at least three (Elias Sports Bureau.)

Almost pleadingly, I wrote on social media that the Montreal forwards needed to pressure the slow-footed Flyers defence with speed. They did exactly that as well as creating some traffic in front of Flyers goaltender Ray Emery.  The Canadiens dominated the third period outshooting Philadelphia 19-4 while scoring three goals to tie the game.

Andrei Markov started the comeback scoring his first of the season with Brendan Gallagher providing the screen.  Markov assisted on the next two goals by Tomas Plekanec and Alex Galchenyuk.  The Canadiens scored three times in 7:35 to tie up the game and take it to overtime.  Markov was superb in a penalty-killing role in overtime.

Carey Price had no chance on any of the Flyers goals. He was a wall after the third Philadelphia goal early in the second period. Price stopped all four Flyers forwards in the shootout.  P.A. Parenteau got the winner for Montreal.

It was the veterans providing the leadership in this game with Markov having a three point night and Plekanec notching a goal and an assist.

The Habs now have a 3-0 record despite only playing solid hockey for four of the nine plus periods of this early season.

Plus / Minus

▲   Tomas Plekanec, Andrei Markov, Carey Price, Alex Galchenyuk, Brendan Gallagher, Jarred Tinordi

▼   Tom Gilbert, Mike Weaver, Power-play (0-for-10 to start the season)

1.  P.A. Parenteau  MTL 
2.  Tomas Plekanec  MTL
3.  Ray Emery  PHI

Coach Michel Therrien

• “We showed a lot of character. This is a group of guys that’s got character, and they never give up. They certainly deserved to win the way they played in the third period.”

Tomas Plekanec

• “We had nothing to lose in the third period. We started playing the same way we’d played late in the games in Washington and Toronto. We started skating and we scored the first goal. That gave us a little life. Then, we just kept going. Every single line that went on the ice had good shifts and put on good pressure. We just kept going at them.”

Goaltender Carey Price

• “You’re never out of a hockey game. How we established that was get the first one and chip away at it. We just found a way to do it.”
• “It’s not something you want to do every night. You don’t want to make that a habit. I definitely think we want to get off on the right foot, get a better start. Playing catch-up is rolling the dice every night. We definitely want to work on our starts.”

Flyers coach Craig Berube

• “When they got the first goal, we stopped playing. We started watching.“