(Montreal) The show was there, Saturday night at the Bell Centre, and the victory also for the favorites of the crowd.
Nick Suzuki scored in a shootout and the Montreal Canadiens won 5-4 against the Philadelphia Flyers.
Suzuki beat goaltender Carter Hart with a masterful fake. For his part, Jake Allen gave nothing to the Flyers. He was lucky when a shot from Morgan Frost hit both posts without crossing the goal line.
The Canadian ended a short two-game losing streak. He also offered a victory to his head coach Martin St-Louis in his first duel against his former instructor John Tortorella.
Cole Caufield had two goals and an assist, while Mike Matheson, in his first game of the season, and Christian Dvorak also scored in regulation time for the Canadiens (9-8-1). Suzuki had two assists and Allen made 25 saves.
PHOTO DOMINICK GRAVEL, THE PRESS
Philadelphia Flyers goaltender Carter Hart
On the side of the Flyers (7-7-4), Owen Tippett scored twice, while Travis Sanheim and Kevin Hayes also moved the ropes. Zack MacEwen was credited with two assists and Hart stopped 28 shots.
The Flyers suffered a sixth straight loss (0-4-2).
Matheson was playing his first game with the Canadiens this season after recovering from an abdominal muscle injury suffered during camp. Matheson was acquired this summer from the Pittsburgh Penguins for Jeff Petry and Ryan Poehling.
Jordan Harris was dropped from the Canadiens’ roster on Saturday to make room for Matheson.
The Canadiens will take over the reins on Tuesday, when they host the Buffalo Sabers at the Bell Centre.
Entertaining show
After a long ceremony honoring people battling cancer, the Flyers seemed to have the most stretched legs.
Sanheim scored after just 39 seconds. Then Tippett added his first goal of the night at 2:55.
Matheson and Joel Edmundson were both minus-2 after two appearances on the ice.
Dvorak quickly revived the Canadian, taking advantage of a loose puck at 4:07 to score his fourth goal of the season.
The Habs completed the comeback before the end of the first period. Sean Monahan scored on the power play, but the goal was canceled following a challenge from Tortorella. Monahan pushed Hart’s pad behind the goal line to score. Caufield bought out his teammate just 90 seconds later as the Canadian had a two-man power play.
The first half of the second period was in favor of the Flyers. Tippett put on a show by mocking Kaiden Guhle, but his shot hit the post. He then set the table for Frost, who couldn’t complete as he was alone in front of Allen.
The Canadian found his bearings thereafter. Matheson moved the ropes with 8:05 to go, thanks to a precise shot following a fine pass from Suzuki.
Tippett replied, however, with 4:10 left in the second period. He surprised Allen by shooting as soon as the puck touched the ice during a face-off in Canadian territory.
The Flyers then took a 4-3 lead after 8:17 of play in the third period. Nick Seeler’s initial shot was blocked by Jake Evans. Hayes retrieved the disc and quickly fired, surprising Allen from the short side.
It took a general onslaught from the Canadiens at six against five to finally force the presentation of a tiebreaker. Caufield created the 4-4 deadlock with 1.9 seconds remaining, thanks to another one-timer.
Suzuki and Allen then helped the Canadian win in the shootout.