The Montreal Canadiens lost 6-4 to the Philadelphia Flyers in the post John Tortorella era. The Flyers were going to come out strong to avenge their old coach and the Canadiens weren’t up to the task. Image [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/926bd7d5-14e4-4ac9-b115-55ad7e03abe6.jpeg] 1. You can’t leave Matvei Michkov open. His first goal was too easy and that amped up the home crowd and left the Canadiens looking listless early on. I didn’t see that coming. Why would they start an impactful game so poorly? 2. Cam York was facing disciplinary backlash for an undetermined item the Flyers wouldn’t elaborate on. He was on the bench with no stick. The Flyers played the entire game with five defenseman because they didn’t have anybody that was healthy enough to fill in. All of their defensive pairings were put in a blender and their defense was cohesive compared to the Canadiens. 3. The Canadiens missed defensive assignments on the Michkov goal, then the Michkov breakaway was stopped, On Couturier’s first goal, that went off his hand (was taken away from Michkov) he said postgame. It was easy, he was parked in the crease, they both were. When the defense wasn’t letting the team down, Jakub Dobes did. He wasn’t ready for a game of this magnitude. 4. Patrik Laine made a great defensive play and eventually got a goal. He had a good game. The Alex Newhook goal is the type he could pull off in college but hasn’t replicated enough in the pros. Goaltender interference is bizarre at this point. I can’t tell you what the rule is and neither can most players and Brendan Gallagher. “They got in Dobers way. That’s what they’ve been calling. That’s the standard. The league needs to show consistency with it. I don’t know what to make of the decision. Players are frustrated around the league.” I thought Brink touched him while in the blue paint. What do I know the goal counted. 5. Accountability is great but fixing it is more important. “There’s no excuse,” said Josh Anderson. That’s what you expect to hear. He looked miserable and took the bullet. Does that mean they will do better next game? I’m not sure. I had said in previous articles the Flyers faltered down the stretch last year because of bad goaltending and not enough scoring at the right time. Not garbage time. It feels like the Canadiens are going down that path but the season isn’t over yet.
