PHI@MTL: Missed opportunity

MONTREAL - The Canadiens were looking at a chance to move into one of the top-three spots in the Atlantic division - against the last-placed team in the East, no less - but they'll have to file it as a missed opportunity.

Coming off a 4-1 win in Columbus the night before, Claude Julien's troops erased any doubt that they might come out of the gate soft in the second game of a back-to-back - and in the wake of the postgame travel back from Ohio - by outshooting the Philadelphia Flyers 12-1 in the opening frame, but had nothing to show for it by period's end.
"We had a good first period, but that's exactly where we should've done some damage by scoring some goals with the domination we had in the first 20," said the coach. "Instead, we went back to the locker room with a 0-0 score."

The Flyers would score a pair of goals late in the second period en route to a 5-2 win over their hosts, but the Canadiens don't believe that their tough schedule had much to do with the end result.
"I thought we were skating really well. We pride ourselves on our speed. I thought the energy was up in the room before the game, coming to the game and guys had a lot of jump," shared defenseman Brett Kulak, who capitalized on a timely pinch to score the Canadiens' second goal of the night to make it 4-2 after Max Domi sandwiched himself with a tally between a pair of Nolan Patrick goals. "I didn't think the back-to-back affected us too much."

For Charles Hudon, who dressed for the first time since playing in Detroit on January 8, it was a case of losing control of the pace after a strong start to the game.
"Momentum can change pretty quickly in a game," outlined Hudon, who played 15:13 and recorded three hits. "We missed our chances in the first period and they capitalized on theirs. We just have to rebound next game."

The Habs could be forgiven if they are to cut themselves some slack in the aftermath of an off night they will surely want shelve and forget. But despite coming off a four-game winning streak, Domi - Montreal's leading point-getter with 44 - isn't ready to pat himself or his team on the back despite their place in the standings and recent success.
"I don't think we'll ever use the word satisfied around here. We have a long season ahead of us. As far as we're concerned, we're just getting started. This is where fun hockey games come into play. We're going to have to find a way to regroup here, take a couple of days," he concluded. "[We play] a good team in Arizona before the break, get a win and go from there."