Flyers Lose on the Road Again, This Time to Montreal

Montreal scores the first goal of the game

The Philadelphia Flyers lost to the Montreal Canadiens 4-1 tonight.

The Flyers had one of their most disappointing offensive efforts this evening, including their 2-shot 1st period and their 0-4 PowerPlay. But it wasn't only about the shots, in which Montreal had the edge 29-19, it was the fact that the Flyers continue to play without heart and desire. Philadelphia isn't showing the drive to win. They need to play with some urgency in this shortened season as points are so important.

After the game, head coach Peter Laviolette spoke about this urgency saying, "We're not understanding the fact that we new to win hockey games."

Mike Knuble reiterated that fact, "The urgency has to be extremely important because we're a third of the way through with 60 possible points left." Knuble continued, "If you play well you're getting 40 to 44 points and other teams are winning their share of games, so it's hard to climb up the ladder (standings)."

Flyers defenseman Kimmo Timonen suited up tonight despite leaving last night's game with a lower body injury, unfortunately even that couldn't spark Philadelphia.

Plekanec puts one past Boucher

Canadiens rookie Brendan Gallagher got Montreal on the board on a nice move on Timonen, using him as a screen, then took a quick shot that beat backup goalie Brian Boucher to the low blocker side. Montreal outshot Philadelphia 12-2 in the period.

Despite the poor lack of effort in the 1st period, it was the 2nd stanza that would do them in. First Montreal increased their lead to 2 only 1:15 minutes into the period on a goal from David Desharnais. Then the Flyers had a prime opportunity to mount a comeback when they were given 4 straight PowerPlay; however, they were unable to generate any goals and only got 5 shots in 8 minutes with an extra skater. On top of that, the Flyers only registered 3 shots while playing even strength in the period (11:24 minutes).

The only bright side in the period came when Danny Briere caught a lucky break after his shot deflected off Canadiens defenseman Andre Markov and past backup goalie Peter Budaj cutting the lead to 1.

Due to Briere's goal, the Flyers still had life going into the 3rd period only down by 1, despite two terrible periods. Yet again, they continued their horrific play, only putting 2 shots on goal in the first 15 minutes of the 3rd period, proving their hearts just were not in the game.

Canadiens close out Flyers

Montreal kept playing hard though and they gained their 2-goal lead back on Tomas Plekanec's 7th of the season, 4:32 minutes into the period.

The Flyers would throw 7 shots on goal in the closing 5 minutes, but it proved too late. Rene Bourque tacked on an empty netter (on an 'awarded goal') solidifying Montreal's 3rd straight win.

Following the game, Flyers captain Claude Giroux spoke about the Flyers lack of passion, "We weren't competing and we're not winning the battles. We are going through the motions. It's just frustrating to see, and I know I have to be better, but we have 20 guys and we need everybody to step up."

The Flyers fall to 6-9-1 on the season, last in the Atlantic division.

Game Notes:

• Tonight's game was a battle of the backup goalies: Brian Boucher made 25 saves on 28 shots, while Peter Budaj made 18 saves on 19 attempts.
• Claude Giroux led the Flyers with 4 shots. It was only the second time all season that Giroux took more than 3 shots and first time since February 2nd.
• Giroux also led the team in hits with 5 and time on ice with 22:38 minutes.
• Every player who took draws for the Flyers was 50% or lower on faceoffs.
• Timonen, who played despite being injured yesterday, was a -2 without any shots in 17:36 minutes.

Highlights:
To view highlights of tonight's game: CLICK HERE

Drop the Puck:
The Flyers play a matinée game on Monday against the NY Islanders at 1 PM. It is their 5th game on this 6 game road trip. So far they are 1-3 on the trip.