Rem Pitlick continued to make his place with the Canadiens on Sunday night at the Wells Fargo Center.
Pitlick tied the game late in the third period before setting up Cole Caufield’s game-winning goal in overtime to defeat the Philadelphia Flyers 4-3.
The Habs erased a two-goal deficit in the third period before losing 4-3 in a shootout against the Seattle Kraken on Saturday at the Bell Centre. This time, he crowned his comeback by winning.
Pitlick created the deadlock with 43 seconds left, then Caufield played the heroes after 2:10 of play in overtime. He moved the ropes with a powerful slap shot.
“The guys believe that we are capable of getting back into games,” said the Canadiens’ interim head coach, Martin St-Louis.
“With the way we play, the guys know they don’t have to cheat to generate scoring chances. We don’t need prepared plays or rigged plays. We played a very good third period and we deserved to be ahead 3-2 and not behind. »
Caufield and Pitlick each had a goal and an assist, while Nick Suzuki scored the Canadian’s first two goals (16-35-8) in regulation time. Chris Wideman had two assists and Samuel Montembeault stopped 27 shots.
Pitlick now has 16 points in 23 games since being claimed off waivers by the Minnesota Wild.
“He plays what is offered to him. A good presence for Rem can be playing in his zone, defending and getting the puck out before changing, said St-Louis. He does not think about the attack with each presence. He manages his game very well.
“There are players who think offensively and who want a home run every time they play. Rem, he’s going to hit singles and doubles and if he sees a homerun opportunity, he’s going to go for it. He is smart and he is able to play in all areas. »
Claude Giroux, Kevin Hayes and Cam Atkinson scored the goals for the Flyers (18-30-11), who suffered a third straight loss. Carter Hart made 31 saves.
Thanks to his goal, Giroux reached 900 career points in his 999th NHL game.
Forward Artturi Lehkonen (upper body) was left out by the Canadian and Laurent Dauphin took his place in the lineup. The Habs also lost the services of Ryan Poehling midway through the second period, after he took a hard hit from Justin Braun.
Defender Joel Edmundson was not in uniform as a precaution after returning to play the day before in the Canadiens’ 4-3 overtime loss to the Kraken. Corey Schueneman replaced him on the blue line.
The Canadiens will be back in action on Tuesday when they host the Arizona Coyotes at the Bell Centre.
The CH in the snatch
The game got off to a bad start for the Canadian. Derick Brassard quickly tested Montembeault and Mike Hoffman was punished after only 20 seconds of play.
The Flyers finally opened the scoring after 7:00 of play. Hayes completed a perfect three-on-two streak started by James van Riemsdyk and Travis Sanheim.
Gerry Mayhew had a golden opportunity to build the gap before the end of the first period, but he missed an open net when he was left behind at the mouth of the net.
Suzuki scored his first goal of the game 2:18 into the second period on the power play. He hit the mark from the top of the left face-off circle.
Giroux restored the lead to the Flyers at 7:11 of the second period. He showed patience in front of the net to beat Montembeault.
Suzuki returned to the charge only 67 seconds later. This time, the nimble striker collected his own return to the slot to beat Hart.
The Canadian squandered a few scoring opportunities afterwards. Michael Pezzetta missed the target on a one-timer from the slot, while Jake Evans and Paul Byron got a little too generous on a dangerous streak.
Hart stood out early in the third period by stopping a good shot from Josh Anderson.
The Flyers regained the lead after 2:41 of play in the third period. Atkinson took advantage of a fine individual effort from Joel Farabee to beat Montembeault.
Like the day before against the Kraken, the Canadian did not give up. Brendan Gallagher knocked on the door midway through on a 2-on-1 attack, but was frustrated by Hart.
While the last momentum of the Canadian seemed to be stopped by a penalty against Wideman for interference with 60 seconds to go, Pitlick forced the presentation of a tiebreaker by deflecting a pass from Ben Chiarot behind Hart.
Caufield then closed the debate in overtime.
Locker Room Echoes
Nick Suzuki admitted that the Canadian did not have a very good start to the game.
“It’s always difficult when you play two games in as many nights and you arrive in town late the night before. We had a difficult start to the game, but we deserved the victory thanks to the rest of our game. »
Suzuki also praised the qualities of Rem Pitlick.
“I didn’t really know him, as a person and as a hockey player. But since he’s been with the team, we find out about his skills, we see that he’s smart. He does a lot of little things that make him special and he manages to score important goals. »
Samuel Montembeault spoke about the character of the Canadian and the good work of Pitlick.
“When we took the penalty, maybe we thought the game was over, but the guys didn’t give up and worked hard. Pitlick scored a big goal. And even in overtime, the other team could have had a two on one, but he took the puck from an opponent before giving it to Cole (Caufield). »
Rem Pitlick, he noted that he had always had confidence in his abilities.
“As soon as I arrived, I said that I wanted to be an offensive player. This is what I demonstrated at the lower levels. I attach great importance to working in my zone, but I want to continue on the attack. »