The seventh time was the good one for the Canadian.
Nick Suzuki reached the 30-goal mark this season in addition to collecting an assist, Cayden Primeau made 29 saves and the Montreal club finally won a third game in a row for the first time in the campaign thanks to a victory of 4-1 against the Philadelphia Flyers.
The Habs had failed on their first six opportunities to win a third game in a row.
“I’m happy that we managed to get this,” said head coach Martin St-Louis. Now we’re going to try to win a fourth in a row. We must continue. »
“The next match is always the most important,” he continued. We approach all matches like that. The engagement is excellent. Collective progress is excellent. We continue ! »
For his part, Suzuki became the first Canadian player to reach the 30-goal plateau in a season since Brendan Gallagher in 2018-2019.
“It doesn’t mean much to me,” Suzuki said. I try to help the team as best as possible, offensively and defensively. Yes, it’s a nice number, but there are still a few games to play. We’ll see how far I can go. »
Jesse Ylönen, Joel Armia and Jake Evans, the last two in an empty net, also scored for the Canadian (28-32-12). Mike Matheson had three assists and crossed the 50-point plateau this season.
Primeau was deprived of a third straight shutout at home when he was beaten by Owen Tippett with 1:01 left in the game. His streak without allowing a goal at the Bell Center ended after 178:43 of play.
The crowd chanted his name late in the third period. “I’ll never get used to that,” Primeau said. It’s an unreal feeling. »
Samuel Ersson stopped 13 shots in front of the Flyers net (36-28-10).
The Canadian will host the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday evening at the Bell Centre.
Primeau guards the fort
The first period was not very lively, but the Canadian found a way to take control by scoring twice.
Suzuki first opened the scoring at 12:58, on the power play. He took advantage of a delivery from Juraj Slafkovsky at the mouth of the net and beat Ersson.
Ylönen came back with 3:14 left in the period. He jumped on a return after a throw from Jayden Struble.
The 24-year-old Finn thus ended a drought of 43 games without scoring.
Slafkovsky had a great chance to score early in the second period. He beat Scott Laughton and drove to the net. Ersson, however, made the save.
Primeau finally had to stand out in the second half of the second period. He made a good save when Travis Konecny deflected a Travis Sanheim shot. He was also alert when Bobby Brink tried to take advantage of a throw return.
The 24-year-old American goaltender also frustrated Joel Farabee with the tip of his glove during a two-on-one attack against one of the Flyers.
Struble got the best chance of the middle period for the Canadian, during the last minute of play. The defender cut into the slot and shot backhanded. However, the puck reached the post.
The second period ended in discord. The Flyers players were angry with Kaiden Guhle for hitting Konecny with a stick while the Canadian defender was on his bench.
“You can’t hit a guy from the bench,” Laughton said. This is a dirty game and it should be possible to review it because the player should be kicked out for such a move. »
The Flyers finally pushed a puck behind the goal line 1:43 into the third period. However, the goal was canceled after video review because Garnet Hathaway had pushed the puck with her skate.
History repeated itself at 5:48. Morgan Frost surprised Primeau with a throw from the corner of the ice. However, the Canadian’s head coach, Martin St-Louis, successfully contested the goal since the restarts showed that there had been offside at the entrance to the zone.
The Flyers once again came close to scoring during a power play. This time, Konecny hit the post after receiving a cross pass.
The Canadian was also denied a goal with 9:11 remaining. Suzuki beat Ersson on a return, but he hit the puck in flight higher than the allowed height.
Primeau put the finishing touches on the result with a fine save against Laughton following a crossfield pass from Konecny with about six minutes remaining.
He also received a helping hand from David Savard a little later, when the defender prevented Farabee from shooting into a gaping cage.
Armia delivered the final blow, scoring into an empty net with 2:55 left on the clock.