Beware of the trap game, they warned. Yeah, no kidding.
Mike Yeo and the Philadelphia Flyers are riding a three-game winning streak into Montreal. The Montreal Canadiens are on a seven-game losing streak, and Cayden Primeau is looking for his first win of the season. Admiral Ackbar would be proud.
Either way, the crowd was stunned by the sound of their silence.
First Period
Without fans in the stands in Montreal, there wasn’t any additional energy in the arena. At the Bell Centre, it’s one of the more prestigious hockey arenas to play on the road. No crowd is a reminder of last season and bubble hockey, which affected players differently.
The Philadelphia Flyers were passive in the first period. They played on their heels, spending too much time in the defensive zone. Spending too much time on defense means you’re likely to commit penalties and surrender a goal. The Montreal Canadiens dictated the pace, which is rare against the Flyers this season.
“We knew that wasn’t our best period. We got back to what was making us successful the last couple games and that’s just our work ethic, our compete. In the second period, we came out pretty hot and flying. It was a good transition.”
Max Willman; 12/16/2021
Carter Hart continues to give Philadelphia a chance. A deflected puck from Artturi Lehkonen snuck past him, but he made plenty of saves against a ton of pressure, keeping the deficit to 1-0.
“I just try and stop the puck one shot at a time. This one stings for sure, but we got a point. A point’s huge for us right now and we’ll just build on it, learn from it, and get ready for Saturday’s game.”
Carter Hart; 12/16/2021
On a positive note, the Flyers were perfect on the penalty kill.
Second Period
Something to consider about Mike Yeo is how the players called up from the Lehigh Valley Phantoms respond to him. In the second period, the Philadelphia Flyers took back the energy. Jackson Cates continued to play with relentless energy on a line with Patrick Brown and Zack MacEwen. The fourth line was the most consistent through two periods for the Flyers.
“You need depth, number one. Number two, Lappy and his crew are doing a good job making sure those guys are prepared coming up. We don’t want guys to just come in and play; we want guys to come in and make a difference.”
Mike Yeo; 12/16/2021
Defensively, Kevin Connauton and Keith Yandle had two consecutive bad shifts. Connauton missed opportunities to clear the puck. Yandle turned the puck over in the defensive zone following a first-period full of team turnovers. Luckily, Joel Armia bailed out Yandle and Connauton by committing a tripping penalty on Justin Braun. Though Philadelphia didn’t convert on the powerplay, it shifted the tempo.
Max Willman tied the game after James van Riemsdyk centered the puck to him in the slot. Later, Patrick Brown tipped the puck at center ice to Cates, springing him for an open rush on Cayden Primeau. After two periods, the Flyers led 2-1.
“I heard it was a fun place to play, and I was excited for the fans and everything. I found out before the game there was no fans, I was [shrugs], but at the end of the day it’s still a hockey game and you got to play to win.”
Jackson Cates; 12/16/2021
Third Period
In the first half of this period, the Philadelphia Flyers had scoring opportunities. Oskar Lindblom almost got on the board, working the dirty areas. Max Willman nearly scored his second of the night, but Cayden Primeau kept the Montreal Canadiens hanging tough.
Ivan Provorov went down on the ice after the puck deflected off his stick and back at him.
Laurent Dauphin scored his first goal in five seasons. Ben Chiarot put the puck on Carter Hart, who gave up a rebound. Dauphin drove it home to tie the game, 2-2. That meant overtime, and I love overtime hockey!
Overtime
Building off the goaltending from Cayden Primeau, Jonathan Drouin nearly sealed the victory early in overtime, but the puck rang off the iron.
Ben Chiarot committed a roughing minor on Sean Couturier. Unfortunately, the Philadelphia Flyers couldn’t convert another powerplay chance, going 0/2 on the evening.
Shootout
The following was the order of the shootout and results:
Up Next
Next, the Philadelphia Flyers host the Ottawa Senators on Saturday. Faceoff is at 7pm.
Photo Credit: Alex McIntyre
