Voracek, Flyers top Canadiens in OT, 3-2

2-20-2018_FlyersvsCanadiens_2nd_credKateFrese-13(Kate Frese/SB Nation)

By Rob Riches, Sports Talk Philly staff 

It's always a given in hockey that you can try and dominate possession, get shots to the net and do everything needed to win the game, but still come up quite short. 
 
For the Flyers, that was about 85 seconds away from happening on Tuesday, but they pulled through.
 
Jakub Voracek tied the game late in the 3rd period, and followed up 1:26 into overtime to give the Flyers a dramatic 3-2 win.
 

 
The win extends their point streak to nine games, and their second win over the Canadiens in as many meetings this season. It's Voracek's first multi-goal effort of the season, and first since Jan. 4, 2017.
 
Jeff Petry opened the scoring late in the 1st period, tipping home a Karl Alzner shot on a rare opportunity in front. Nolan Patrick countered with the first power-play goal of his career in the 2nd, giving him two consecutive games with a goal.
 
Paul Byron put the Canadiens back on top midway through the 3rd, and with Carey Price looking dominant, it looked like they'd be able to squeak out a 2-1 win. Voracek dispelled any and all notions of that, though, beating Voracek with a long drive through traffic with 1:25 left and going bar-down 86 seconds into the extra period.
 
Stopping 25 of 27 shots, Alex Lyon earned the second win of his career. Price turned in a strong 30-save effort.
 
Making his NHL debut, Oskar Lindblom was quite noticeable, and was making his presence felt around the net — particularly in the 1st period. He finished with one shot and one hit in 15:11 of ice time, and saw some time on the power play as well.
 
Incredibly, the Flyers managed to stay away from taking any minor penalties, continuing a stretch of disciplined play. Brandon Manning was the only Flyer to sniff the penalty box, after a fight with Nicolas Deslauriers.
 
With the win, the Orange and Black get some breathing space. New Jersey lost in regulation, 2-1, to Columbus, so the Flyers move two points ahead of them for the third playoff spot in the Metro Division.

The Flyers stay home through the middle of the week, and will next face the Blue Jackets on Thursday. They'll face the Canadiens again on Monday, wrapping up the season series.

Box Score

  1 2 3 OT T
Canadiens 1 0 1 0 2
Flyers 0 1 1 1 3

Scoring Summary

1st Period

  • MTL Jeff Petry (9) (Karl Alzner, Charles Hudon) 17:47

2nd Period

  • PHI Nolan Patrick (7) (Claude Giroux, Jakub Voracek) PPG, 7:18

3rd Period

  • MTL Paul Byron (14) (Tomas Plekanec, Brendan Gallagher 8:45
  • PHI Jakub Voracek (12) (Sean Couturier, Shayne Gostisbehere) 18:35

Overtime

  • PHI Voracek (13) (Gostisbehere, Valtteri Filppula) 1:26

Game Statistics

  Canadiens Flyers
Shots 27 33
Power Plays 0/0 1/3
Hits 22 16
Faceoff % 43% 57%
Giveaways 11 13
Takeaways 3 8
Blocked Shots 27 16
Penalty Minutes 11 5
Go to top button