Flyers Look Sleepy in Loss to Canadiens

For most of the 2022-23 season, the lack of results for the Flyers has not been for lack of effort. But recently, the Flyers have strung together some alarming performances. Friday night was another example.

For the sixth time in the last seven games, the Flyers were on the losing end with a 5-2 defeat to the Montreal Canadiens at Wells Fargo Center.

Neither team could get much going for most of the first period. But with 2:10 remaining in the period, David Savard opened the scoring as the Flyers got caught in a line change and allowed a free lane to the net.

With just 3.7 seconds remaining in the period, the Flyers lost a puck battle behind the net and Chris Tierney was able to bury the centering feed from Michael Pezzetta to make it 2-0.

Through 20 minutes, shots were 14-6 Montreal.

The struggles continued into the second period, as the Canadiens extended the lead to three after a power-play goal at 7:12. A centering pass from Mike Matheson was tipped in by Nick Suzuki.

Through two periods, shots were 20-16 Montreal.

Just nine seconds into the third, the Flyers got on the board as Owen Tippett scored his 17th goal of the season. But Montreal answered back with a goal by Jesse Ylonen at 6:26 to make it 4-1.

The Canadiens got another goal at 12:12, as Josh Anderson scored his 17th goal of the season. With 1:28 to play, the Flyers capped the scoring with Ivan Provorov getting his fourth goal of the season.

Carter Hart made 26 saves on 31 shots in the loss. Jake Allen made 24 saves on 26 shots in the win.

Morgan Frost had a pair of assists for the Flyers. Ylonen had a goal and an assist while Mike Hoffman had two assists for Montreal.

The Flyers are right back on the ice on Saturday night as they travel to take on the New Jersey Devils at 7 p.m.

Box Score

Scoring Summary

1st Period

• MTL David Savard (3) (Mike Hoffman, Jesse Ylonen) 17:50
• MTL Chris Tierney (30 (Michael Pezzetta, Johnathan Kovacevic) 19:55

2nd Period

• MTL Nick Suzuki (19) PP (Mike Matheson, Hoffman) 7:12

3rd Period

• PHI Owen Tippett (17) (Morgan Frost) 0:09
• MTL Ylonen (1) (Justin Barron, Jonathan Drouin) 6:26
• MTL Josh Anderson (17) (Rafael Harvey-Pinard) 12:12
• PHI Ivan Provorov (4) (Tony DeAngelo, Frost) 18:32

Game Statistics

Kevin Durso is Flyers insider for 97.3 ESPN and Flyers editor for SportsTalkPhilly.com. Follow him on Twitter @Kevin_Durso.