A week away from trade deadline, Flyers take another lopsided loss originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
The Flyers heard scattered boos throughout Friday night as they stumbled badly to the Canadiens, 5-2, at the Wells Fargo Center.
Owen Tippett and Ivan Provorov scored the Flyers’ goals. Tippett cut the Flyers’ deficit to 3-1 just nine seconds into the third period.
Provorov’s goal came with the Flyers down 5-1 in the final minute and a half of the game.
Morgan Frost had two assists.
The Flyers (23-27-10) have flubbed on their February opportunity. They’re 2-6-1 this month and have just two games left before next Friday’s NHL trade deadline. They are expected to sell off at least a piece or two in preparation for the offseason and future.
Travis Konecny missed a second straight game because of an upper-body injury. There has been no further word on his status.
The Flyers have dearly missed his offense and energy.
For the NHL draft lottery lovers, the Canadiens (25-29-4) are just two points back of the Flyers in the NHL standings and have played two fewer games.
• The Flyers just look like their hitting a massive wall.
They’re having to play a ton of defense, they have little life offensively and reality seems to be rearing its head a bit.
John Tortorella’s club has lost 10 of its last 13 games (3-7-3), a stretch in which it has scored just 2.31 goals per game.
• Carter Hart finished with 26 saves on 31 shots.
Right now, it seems like if he’s not absolutely dominant, the Flyers are in trouble.
Montreal’s Jesse Ylonen and Josh Anderson scored third-period goals to put the game out of reach.
Canadiens netminder Jake Allen entered with a 3.47 goals-against average and .894 save percentage. He stopped 24 of the Flyers’ 26 shots for the victory.
• Joel Farabee played hard and finished as a plus-2, but he’s definitely pressing offensively.
He has gone 19 straight games without a goal. A really tough year for him coming off of the neck surgery.
More: Tortorella sticking with Farabee, says the winger’s agent ‘should just shut up’
• In defense of Scott Laughton, who took a hit, Wade Allison fought Alex Belzile in the second period with the Flyers desperate for a spark.
But the fight backfired because Allison was hit with an instigator, which put Montreal on a power play. The Canadiens scored immediately on the man advantage to take a commanding 3-0 lead.
• Just a disastrous first period for the Flyers.
They were completely outplayed by Montreal and surrendered an inexcusable goal with 3.7 seconds left in the stanza.
Chris Tierney made his way to the slot untouched and buried a pass that came from below the goal line.
The marker pinned the Flyers in a 2-0 hole. They lived in the defensive zone for most the period.
Hart fended off the Canadiens until the final two-plus minutes when lengthy offensive zone time for Montreal finally led to the game-opening goal.
• With Konecny out, Tortorella rolled with 11 forwards and seven defensemen. Justin Braun entered the lineup for Kieffer Bellows.
• Forwards Zack MacEwen and Tanner Laczynski took the ice for the team’s morning skate Friday.
MacEwen is recovering from a fractured jaw he suffered in late January. He sported a protective shield on his helmet at the skate.
With a lower-body issue, Laczynski has been on injured reserve since early December.
Tortorella didn’t have an update on either player.
• The Flyers are right back at it Saturday when they visit the Devils (7 p.m. ET/NBCSP).
Tortorella’s team is 2-9-0 in the second game of back-to-back sets.
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