The first game in the game in the sweep of the NHL schedule from Friday night featured two teams in need of wins and points and they both got points as the Montreal Canadiens rallied from a 2-1 deficit in the third period to edge the Philadelphia Flyers, 3-2, in the skills competition.
Paul Byron scored the game-winner in the fifth round of the shootout.
Max Pacioretty scored midway through the third period to tie the game at two all.
The Habs have trouble since Carey Price went down with an injury.
Max Pacioretty scored in third to send game to OT – file photo by Lewis Bleiman
“We haven’t written it off. There’s a lot to play for,” Pacioretty said. “There’s still a playoff hope. We’re professionals in this room. We come to the rink every day, and we’re not going to give up until the very end. So I really like the way we’ve played the last two games. It’s good to get rewarded with two points. I feel that we deserved it and tonight just feels good. We’ve got to run with it.”
Mike Condon got the win on 35 saves and strong effort in the shootout.
“He made some great saves for us,” Byron said. “We can’t ask any more from him than what he gave us tonight. He plays like that, like he’s been for us all year, he gives us a chance to win every night and with the game on the line he makes a big save for us and we ended up getting the win because of it.”
Michal Neuvirth took the loss for the Flyers who are trying to find traction to chase down a wild card spot.
“Those are important points. We know that,” Flyers coach Dave Hakstol said. “If we could flip a switch and change it and turn it, we would. But obviously we weren’t able to do that tonight. I do believe a lot of it, as you go through a shootout, is feeling confident and going out there with a clear mind. For that to happen we’ve got to have some success a couple of shootouts in a row.”
PK Subban has been the center of media attention in Montreal since being singled out for a loss earlier this week.
“I’ve always been told that people can criticize you as a person, criticize your character, the one thing that’s very difficult to do when you perform is criticize your play,” Subban said. “For me, my numbers speak for themselves. So if somebody wants to criticize my play on the ice, I tell them to look at the numbers, look at the production over the past six years. Find me a handful of defensemen who have done what I’ve done in this League.
“I play for the crest on the front of the jersey. But if people want to be critical, I don’t have to say anything. Just look at the numbers; that’ll shut them up pretty quickly.”
He assisted on both Habs goals in regulation.
In Calgary, the Flames also rallied from a deficit to top the Vancouver Canucks, 5-2.
Joe Colborne, Mikael Backlund, Michael Frolik, Mark Giordano, and Josh Jooris all scored for the Flames.
“We don’t like those guys and they don’t like us,” Colborne said. “It’s especially nice when you can steal two big ones from them. But it’s only two points. It’s nice, but we have to string a bunch of those together and we have to do it right away.
“You can’t afford to give any more points away. We’ve got a tough road ahead of us. We’ll enjoy it for a little bit here in the room and when we walk out of the rink it’s on to a huge road trip in California.”
Jonas Hiller made 26 saves for the win.
Adam Cracknell and Jake Virtanen scored for the Canucks.
“It felt good,” Virtanen said. “Getting that one gave me a little confidence. I’ve seen this building. I played here for three years. It’s pretty nice to get that one. It’s not the result we wanted.
“It’s going to be huge for us to turn this around. We’re obviously going to have to step up as a team and the younger guys are going to have to step up and the older guys are going to have to keep on playing hard.”
Jacob Markstrom made 28 saves in the loss for the Canucks who lost their fourth straight and trail the wild card spot in the west by double digits now.
“You can’t let the negativity take over,” Markstrom said. “You’ve got to stick together as a team. We’re in the same boat. Nobody wants to be in this boat, but the reality is we’re all in it. We’ve got to find a way to get out of it.
“We’ve got to show up in practice and just work hard. That’s what it takes. Wins are not going to come easy in this League.”
In Columbus, Buffalo Sabres goalie Robin Lehner made 38 saves for his third career shutout in a 4-0 blanking of the Blue Jackets.
The dagger in the heart of the Jackets came late in the first period when David Legwand wristed a non-threatening shot down the ice on a penalty kill.
The puck skipped off the ice and past Joonas Korpisalo for a shorthanded goal and a 2-0 Sabres lead.
“It’s something that’s a lot of luck,” Legwand said. “Obviously you throw it on net. You throw it on the net because there’s nothing else to do. It has a chance to go in if it’s on net. I never expected it to go in.”
The goal took the air out of the arena.
“It was a weird bounce, but that should never go in,” Korpisalo said. “I tried to get as close as possible but I didn’t see what happened. You never really expect that kind of bounce.”
Jamie McGinn scored twice two and Sam Reinhart also scored for the Sabres.
“We outchanced them, but we weren’t scoring on him tonight, no doubt about it,” Columbus coach John Tortorella said. “You could see in the first period it was one of those games. It’s a 4-0 game, but he’s a big reason they won that game.”
Columbus was 0-for-6 on the power play.
“I thought our power play stunk,” Tortorella said.
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