The Montreal Canadiens own a three-game winning streak for the first time this season as they defeated the Philadelphia Flyers at the Bell Centre.

GAME RECAP | Montreal Canadiens 4 vs Philadelphia Flyers 1 | FINAL

Canadiens Lineup

Forwards

22 Cole Caufield - 14 Nick Suzuki - 20 Juraj Slafkovsky
11 Brendan Gallagher - 15 Alex Newhook - 40 Joel Armia
17 Josh Anderson - 71 Jake Evans - 56 Jesse Ylonen
55 Michael Pezzetta - 36 Colin White - 49 Rafael Harvey-Pinard

Defensemen
8 Mike Matheson - 21 Kaiden Guhle
72 Arber Xhekaj - 58 David Savard
47 Jayden Struble - 54 Jordan Harris

Goaltenders

Starter: 30 Cayden Primeau
Alternate: 35 Sam Montembeault 

Out of the lineup

Scratches: Tanner Pearson, Johnathan Kovacevic
Injuries: Carey Price (knee), Chris Wideman (back), Kirby Dach (knee), Christian Dvorak (upper body), Joshua Roy (hand)

Watchalong Livestream (replay)

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFDMdqbpOKI[/embed]

After defeating the Philadelphia Flyers, the Canadiens can boast a three-game win streak for the very first time this season. It may seem late in the campaign to be achieving such a modest milestone, but better late than never. It was such of point of significance that Montreal's head coach cancelled a scheduled practice on Friday as a team reward.

The wins primarily resulted from a newfound commitment to defensive play and being opportunistic. And against the Flyers, the home team also benefited from a number of bounces that went their way.

The Canadiens opened the scoring on the power play. Nick Suzuki made a nifty play bringing the puck from his skate to his stick for his 30th goal of the season. It's the first 30-goal season of the captain's NHL career.

Just under four minutes later, It was Jesse Ylonen going to the net to pot his fourth goal of the year. Ylonen's goal would hold up as the game-winner. The two teams combined for just 11 shots on goal in the first period.

The Canadiens did a good job the rest of the way clogging up the neutral zone. At times the game ground to a standstill. Thirty minutes of the contest had gone by and the Flyers had not registered a five-on-five high danger scoring chance.

And then there was the good fortune. Philadelphia had two goals called back after review, one for a 'distinct kicking motion' and another for offside.

The reviews help keep Cayden Primeau's night spotless until Owen Tippett spoiled the shutout with 61 seconds left in the game. Primeau made 29 saves for his eightth win of the season.

Joel Armia and Jake Evans each added an empty net goal to round out the scoring.

The game was feisty especially after a second period incident where Kaiden Guhle tapped Travis Konecny ​​with his stick while the Montreal defenseman was seated on his bench.

Game Statistics

Canadiens (28-32-12)
Shots: 17
Face-off %: 49.1
Power play: 1/2
Penalty minutes: 14
Hits: 26
Blocks: 22

Flyers (36-28-10)
Shots: 30
Face-off %: 50.9
Power play: 0/4
Penalty minutes: 10
Hits: 18
Blocks: 13

Scoring Summary

Canadiens Scorers
1st period: Suzuki (30)-PPG, Ylonen (4)
2nd period: --
3rd period: Armia (13)-ENG, Evans (6)-ENG
OT: --
SO: --

Flyers Scorers
1st period: --
2nd period: --
3rd period: Tippett (27)
OT: --
SO: --

Goaltenders
MTL: Primeau (W) 8-7-2
PHI: Ersson (L) 21-15-7

Canadiens Player of the Game

Jesse Ylonen - Being limited to just 9:11 of ice time, Ylonen made the most of it scoring the game winner.

Video Highlights

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HM4bY6o3UPY[/embed]

Post-game Quotes

Martin St. Louis

"I'm happy that we managed to get this,” said head coach . Now we're going to try to win a fourth in a row."

Nick Suzuki

“I try to help the team as best as possible, offensively and defensively. Yes, [30 goals] a nice number, but there are still a few games to play. We'll see how far I can go."

Up Next

With their first three-game winning streak of the season, the Habs have earned a day off on Friday. The Canadiens will continue their five-game homestand on Saturday night against the Carolina Hurricanes.

Be sure to bookmark THN.com/Montreal for year-round coverage of the Montreal Canadiens, Laval Rocket, and Habs prospects playing in leagues around the world.