The Philadelphia Flyers were unable to close out their First Round series on Wednesday against the Montreal Canadiens, suffering a 5-3 loss in Game 5 at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto. A three-point performance by Jakub Voracek went to waste.
Joel Armia (shorthanded) scored the lone goal of the first period. In a wild second period, Voracek tallied a pair of power play goals, only for Armia to re-tie the game and Brendan Gallagher to put Montreal ahead, 3-2.
Voracek set up a game-tying power play goal for Joel Farabee in the third period but Nick Suzuki put Montreal ahead again 22 seconds later. Phillip Danault sealed the Montreal win with an empty net goal.
Carter Hart was not at his best on this night after back-to-back shutouts. He finished with 28 saves on 32 shots. Carey Price earned the win with 26 saves on 29 shots.
TURNING POINT
On a night of frequent twists, turns and momentum shifts, a shaky second period from Hart and a lost own-zone battle and goal in front for Suzuki ended up being the difference.
MELTZER'S TAKE
* A slow start -- Montreal came out attacking immediately -- and the Flyers continued power play struggles proved costly early. Hart's shutout streak ended at 132:28 when a shoot in by Xavier Ouellet bounced off the end boards in the slot and Armia beat Hart low to the glove side at 2:53.
* The Flyers settled in as the period went along, including a strong kill on a Jakub Voracek high-sticking double minor and both four-on-four and shorthanded (breakaway) chances for Kevin Hayes. Montreal's Brendan Gallagher was especially chippy with his stick and chirps in the first period. He was particularly engaged with Ivan Provorov. Philly finished the period shorthanded after Joel Farabee was called for tripping with 52.7 seconds left.
* Undisciplined penalties had consequences for both teams in the second period. Jesperi Kotkaniemi's boarding major and game misconduct resulted in one-timer and seeing eye (an intended pass that went on off Ben Chiarot) power play goals for Jakub Voracek to put the Flyers ahead, 2-1. Then, Hart let in a bad goal to Armia as he went into his reverse CH and was beaten over his shoulder to the short side. A bad cross-checking double minor on Phil Myere led to a go-ahead power play goal from the doorstep by Gallagher.
* Hart let in an awful goal off his glove on a routine shot by Suzuki. Thankfully for the Flyers, the play was clearly offside and the goal was overturned on replay review. Hart, who was about to be removed from the game, was given a reprieve by coach Vigneault.
* The Flyers pressured hard with the forecheck in the third period. Voracek and Hayes (on what probably should called a penalty shot) created power plays. Voracek set up a game-tying redirect for Farabee only for Suzuki to untie it again on the next shift.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
* With the loss, the Flyers will take on the Canadiens in Game 6 on Friday at 7 p.m. ET.
* A total of 13 power plays were featured in this game (PHI: 7, MTL: 6)
* The Flyers went 3-for-7 on the power play in tonight's game, after going just 1-for-17 through the first four games... The Habs also had six power plays, going 1-for-6.
* Jake Voracek posted two goals and an assist for his first career three-point playoff game... He has four goals and six points so far in the five-game series - it's the most goals he has had in a single series and entire playoffs.
* Both Sean Couturier and Claude Giroux recorded two-point nights with two assists... Kevin Hayes led the team with seven shots on goal and Ivan Provorov led in ice time at 26:47.
* The team that has scored the first goal has won the game through each game of the series.
