Meltdown vs. Montreal: Flyers collapse in loss to the Canadiens

What looked to be a surefire win for the Philadelphia Flyers turned into a major meltdown as they lost 4-3 to the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night.

Michael Raffl, and Wayne Simmonds (2) scored for the Flyers, while Andrei Markov, Tomas Plekanec, Alex Galchenyuk, and P.A. Parentau (SO) handled business for the Canadiens. Ray Emery recorded 35 saves on 38 shots, and Carey Price, who struggled in the beginning, came away with 29 saves on 32 shots.

Raffl opened up the scoring at 3:37 into the first period, and Simmonds scored his first of the night just 16 seconds later. Claude Giroux and Jakub Voracek had the assists on Raffl’s goal, while Brayden Schenn and Michael Del Zotto aided Simmonds’ first.

There were seven penalties taken over all by both teams in the first, four by the Flyers and three by the Canadiens, but the Flyers’ penalty kill was very successful. They kept Montreal at bay while the Habs had the man advantage.

It was a relatively quiet second period for the most part, as the Canadiens took two more penalties (PK Subban for high-sticking and Brandon Prust for goaltender interference). Simmonds’ second goal of the night (assisted by Vincent Lecavalier and Mark Streit) was a PPG on Subban’s penalty.

Emery’s bid for a shutout seemed more and more plausible until Markov’s goal just over seven minutes into the third period, cutting the Flyers’ lead down to two. Less than two minutes later, Plekanec’s deflection cut the lead down to just one goal. And just about five minutes after that, Galchenyuk completed the comeback for the Canadiens.

The Flyers’ defense seemed to completely fall apart after Markov’s goal, and the offense didn’t fare much better. Montreal dominated in shots in the third, 19-4. With the score tied at 3, this game’s fate was to be decided in overtime.

Despite the Flyers getting a power play opportunity halfway into overtime thanks to a tripping call on Eller, they were not able to capitalize. And when the game went into a shootout, the team’s collapse was complete.

Philadelphia will have to wait until Tuesday night against the Anaheim Ducks for another attempt at winning their first game of the season.