Taking First Place

The Montreal Canadiens played in the Bell Centre last night after playing 2 straight games on the road. The Philadelphia Flyers, who have only won 6 games of their 16 games played needed a win desperately to keep themselves in line with the other teams in the Eastern Conference standings. 

• First Period
• With no action coming within the first 8 minutes of play, Brendan Gallagher would wrist one past the Flyers goalie to give this game some excitement and something for the fans to cheer about. The Flyers would get their fair share of chances, but Budaj was there to shut the door, ending the first period at a 1-0 lead.
• Montreal: 12 Shots On Goal
• Philadelphia: 2 Shots On Goal
• Second Period
• With only a minute into the second, Max Pacioretty from behind the Flyers net passes it right to Desharnais who would wrist one past Boucher giving the Canadiens a comfortable 2-0 lead. With 7 minutes to play, Budaj handles the puck behind his net but makes a terrible pass along the boards, the flyers would come close to scoring but PK Subban would dive into the initial shot taken to save a goal. With only a minute after that mistake, Danny Briere would wrist one past Budaj making it 2-1 Canadiens heading into the third.
• Montreal: 6 Shots On Goal
• Philadelphia: 8 Shots On Goal
• Third Period
• 4 minutes into the third, Plekanec would backhand one on the net, picking up his own rebound and shooting once again and stopped, receives his rebound again and finally puts it in the net as Boucher was down. The Flyers would come close with 3 minutes to play, the initial slapshot from the point was stopped, causing a scramble near Budaj's net. Budaj would reach behind and cover the puck to avoid another goal. With 2 minutes left to play, the Flyers pull their goalie, a face-off in the Habs zone was won which led Rene Bourque on the rush with only 1 Flyer defenseman back. As Bourque was tripped on the play, he would just get the puck into the net as it hit the post and went in. The clock would tick down, as the Canadiens win their 3rd straight, 4-1 the final score.
• Montreal: 11 Shots On Goal
• Philadelphia: 9 Shots On Goal

The Canadiens defeat the Flyers for the 3rd straight meeting, with a win last night the Canadiens move into first place in their divisional standings and fifth in the conference standings. The Habs face the Hurricanes Monday night at the Bell Centre. The Hurricanes have won 3 straight!