Kovalchuk Scores Twice as Flyers Fall to Canadiens

By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 

When the Flyers faced the Canadiens twice earlier in the season, it took overtime for the Flyers to find a way to win each game. For the third meeting between the two teams, there was one notable new face in the Canadiens lineup.

Ilya Kovalchuk entered the game with five points in six games with the Canadiens and added two more with a pair of goals as the Flyers were stymied by Carey Price and fell to the Montreal Canadiens, 4-1, on Thursday night at Wells Fargo Center.

For most of the first period, Montreal maintained possession and kept the Flyers from getting much on the attack. Alex Lyon was sharp early, making 12 saves in the opening period.

Despite having limited chances, the Flyers scored the game's first goal late in the period. With 1:13 remaining, Joel Farabee put home a rebound from Tyler Pitlick to make it 1-0 with his fourth goal of the season. 

Just 18 seconds later, Montreal answered with a goal by Tomas Tatar, his 17th of the season, to tie the game at one through 20 minutes. Shots after one period were 13-12 Montreal.

The Canadiens got an early power play in the second and made the most of it. A point shot by Shea Weber was tipped by Nick Cousins and Lyon was not able to control it. That left a rebound on the doorstep for Kovalchuk and he buried it for his fifth goal of the season to make it 2-1 at 2:08.

Just 11 seconds later, the Canadiens were on the board again as Artturi Lehkonen tipped in a pass from Phillip Danault to make it 3-1.

The Flyers out-shot the Canadiens, 19-10, in the second and had two power-play chances of their own, but all chances were thwarted by Carey Price. 

The Flyers had two more power-play chances in the third and again failed to score, getting a few scoring chances but ultimately throwing shots toward the net that were easy saves for Price.

With 8:47 remaining in the game, Kovalchuk sealed the Flyers fate with his second goal of the night from the slot, making it 4-1 Montreal.

Price finished the game with 40 saves on 41 shots. Lyon stopped 36 of 40 shots in the loss.

In addition to Kovalchuk's two-goal night, Danault had three assists and Tatar had a three-point game with a goal and two assists.

The Flyers return to the ice on Saturday night as they face the Los Angeles Kings at 7 p.m.

Box Score

Scoring Summary

1st Period

• PHI Joel Farabee (4) (Tyler Pitlick, Connor Bunnaman) 18:47
• MTL Tomas Tatar (17) (Phillip Danault, Ben Chiarot) 19:05

2nd Period

• MTL Ilya Kovalchuk (5) PP (Nick Cousins, Shea Weber) 2:08
• MTL Artturi Lehkonen (11) (Danault, Tatar) 2:19

3rd Period

• MTL Kovalchuk (6) (Danault, Tatar) 11:13

Game Statistics