Habs knock off Flyers 3-1

On a night where the Flyers were returning home from a successful trip to New York, many expected the team to keep the ball (or in this case, the puck) rolling. After a strong showing in the shootout loss Saturday and a winning effort in New York on Tuesday, it was not to be at the Wachovia Center last night.

For the third time in four games, the Flyers gave up the first goal. Also, for the second time in three games, the Flyers allowed that goal in the first minute of the game. Antero Niittymaki though has refused to let his guard down after those early deficits, and has played fantastic so far. He ended up stopping 20 of 22 shots last night, including a superb sliding save to rob Mathieu Dandenault of a goal in the 2nd period.

Michael Ryder got things started for the Habs with 2nd goal of the season at the 38 second mark of the first period. The seats weren't even warm yet, but Montreal had taken the early advantage.

Alexei Kovalev got the second goal of the game for Montreal on a blazing wrist shot from the left circle at the 6:18 mark of the 2nd period, putting the Canadiens up 2-0. David Aebischer continued to baffle the Flyers, stopping 14 shots through two periods of play.

The Flyers finally got to Aebischer early on in the third, as R.J. Umberger rammed home the rebound on a point blank Jeff Carter slapshot, cutting the Montreal lead in half. The Flyers had over 18 minutes of play to tie the game, but struggled to do just so.

Dandenault picked up a penalty for the Canadiens with 1:53 to play in the game, and the Flyers, after pulling Niittymaki, had a 6 on 4 advantage. Yet this late 2-man advantage on the Canadiens summed up what the entire game was full of for Philadelphia: frustration. Close is only good in horseshoes and hand grenades. And for Ken Hitchcock and the Flyers, they found this out the hard way.

Flyers lose to Habs 3-1