Dec 19 2008
Canadiens cool off Flyers
Well, you can’t win ‘em all. The Flyers got down early in Montreal and were never able to recover as they were dealt a 5-2 loss by the Canadiens. The loss snapped Philly’s five game winning streak and gave Montreal its eight win in its last nine regular season meetings with the Flyers.
Matt D’Agostini put Montreal ahead early in the first period and Sergei Kostitsyn scored a power play goal a few minutes later to give the Canadiens a 2-0 lead. About five minutes later, Montreal struck again when Steve Begin rattled the cage to make it a 3-0 game. Moments later, Arron Asham finally provided an answer for the Flyers, but Montreal took a 3-1 lead into the intermission. Throughout the entire first period, the Canadiens just seemed to be outworking the Flyers, who couldn’t seem to do anything right.
The Flyers were on the attack for much of the second period, but were unable to put the puck in the net. Philly also caught a bad break when, after failing to convert a scoring opportunity, Begin hit Alexei Kovalev with a pass that led to a breakaway goal. Kovalev’s 900th NHL point made it 4-1 Montreal and essentially ended the game.
In the third period, Braydon Coburn cut Philly’s deficit to 4-2 with just under seven minutes remaining, but Montreal’s Guillaume Latendresse scored the game’s final goal on the power play to seal the Canadiens’ 5-2 win.
Antero Niittymaki had a rough night in met, allowing five goals on 31 shots. Jaroslav Halak played extremely well, making 29 saves on his way to his fourth win of the year.
The Flyers look to avoid back-to-back losses tomorrow afternoon when they host the Washington Capitals. It will be the first meeting between the teams since Philly’s thrilling seven game series win in the first round of the 2008 Stanley Cup Playoffs. It should be an intense game.
Let’s Go Flyers!
