Flyers Advance to Second Round, Defeat Canadiens in Game 6

By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 

It took every last inch, every last effort and every goal. By the slimmest of margins, the Flyers came out on top of Game 6.

Some dirty but good goals and a 31-save effort by Carter Hart were the difference, as the Flyers claimed Game 6, 3-2, over the Montreal Canadiens, advancing to the second round of the playoffs.

The Flyers wasted no time getting off to a fast start. Off a face-off, Ivan Provorov scored to give the Flyers the lead just 28 seconds into the game. 

Just under three minutes later, the Flyers went to the power play for the first time in the game. Just seconds after the power play expired, the Flyers were on the board again. Derek Grant got a pass in front to Kevin Hayes and Hayes was able to make a move, open up Carey Price and tuck it through the five-hole to make it 2-0 Flyers at 5:23.

Leading up to the first Flyers power play, Montreal was really pushing the play and they were able to get their first power play just shy of the halfway point of the period. At 10:03, they were on the board too.

Joel Armia was left open in the slot and got a shot on goal that Hart stopped, but Nick Suzuki was there to clean up the rebound and knock it past him to make it a 2-1 game.

The Flyers had two more power plays before the period ended and could not take advantage of either, taking the one-goal lead to the intermission.

Through 20 minutes, Montreal had a 10-6 lead in shots.

Montreal had the better of the chances early in the second, but it was the Flyers getting on the board first in the second period.

Off a rush, Jake Voracek dropped a pass to Travis Sanheim. Sanheim's shot rattled around the crease and was knocked over the line by Price to make it 3-1 at 4:26. The goal was credited to Michael Raffl.

Just 1:39 later, Montreal was on the board again with a line that was taking over the game. Sanheim lost a battle in the corner, and Jonathan Drouin set up Suzuki for his second goal of the game at 6:05 to cut the lead back to one.

The Flyers let another power-play opportunity get away from them, and Montreal kept the pressure on by maintaining possession and generating chances throughout the period as well as winning a lot of the puck battles.

Through two periods, the shots were 20-12 Montreal.

The Flyers then went into that typical lock-down style in the third period. Montreal did finish the period with 13 shots, many of them in the final minutes, but Hart and the Flyers held on and sealed the win.

Hart finished the game with 31 saves on 33 shots. Price stopped 14 of 17 shots.

The Flyers will move on to the second round where they will face the New York Islanders. The series schedule is to be announced.

Box Score

Scoring Summary

1st Period

• PHI Ivan Provorov (1) (Kevin Hayes) 0:28
• PHI Hayes (1) (Derek Grant, Tyler Pitlick) 5:23
• MTL Nick Suzuki (3) PP (Joel Armia, Jonathan Drouin) 10:03

2nd Period

• PHI Michael Raffl (3) (Travis Sanheim, Jake Voracek) 4:26
• MTL Suzuki (4) (Drouin, Armia) 6:05

3rd Period

• No Scoring

Game Statistics