Canadiens lose to Flyers, will finish 3rd in Atlantic

PHILADELPHIA -- The Montreal Canadiens will finish in third place in the Atlantic Division after a 4-2 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers to close out their regular season at Xfinity Mobile Arena on Tuesday.

Montreal (48-24-10) needed a win in regulation to have a chance to pass the Tampa Bay Lightning for second in the division and gain home-ice advantage in the Eastern Conference First Round series between the teams. 

Brendan Gallagher and Jake Evans scored, and Jakub Dobes made 21 saves for the Canadiens, who had their six-game road winning streak end.

"Felt like we played a pretty good hockey game overall," Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki said. "Thought we generated a lot. There's just some small little plays that ended up in the back of our net. I thought that it's just one of those nights where it just didn't go our way."

Matvei Michkov had a goal and two assists, and Oliver Bonk had a goal and an assist in his NHL debut for Philadelphia (43-27-12), which finished the regular season with three straight wins. Porter Martone also had a goal and an assist, Alex Bump scored, and Samuel Ersson made 27 saves.

Philadelphia played without several of its top players, including forwards Trevor Zegras, Owen Tippett and Travis Konecny, as well as defensemen Travis Sanheim and Rasmus Ristolainen after clinching third place in the Metropolitan Division and an Eastern Conference First Round series against the Pittsburgh Penguins with a 3-2 shootout win against the Carolina Hurricanes on Monday.

"Great crowd today," Ersson said. "It's a fun game to play. I think we got a lot of energy after yesterday. Even though it's a back-to-back, you felt like you were kind of pumped to go out there and play. A lot of good feelings." 

Bonk and defenseman Hunter McDonald, each of whom were recalled from Lehigh Valley of the American Hockey League on Tuesday, supplied that energy.

After Martone gave the Flyers a 1-0 lead at 8:08 of the first period by tipping Michkov's point shot between Dobes' pads, Bonk made it 2-0 at 14:42. He's the first Flyers defenseman to score a goal in his NHL debut. McDonald began the play with a hit on Evans that forced a turnover in the Montreal zone. Michkov was first on the loose puck and sent it across to Bonk, who scored from above the right face-off circle.

"I was ecstatic," Bonk said. "I've scored a couple firsts -- first in the AHL, first in the (Ontario Hockey League). It's always special, but I think this is the one that you'll never forget and you'll tell your kids about, so I was really pumped."

Gallagher cut it to 2-1 at 6:50 of the second period. He skated to the net and tipped a centering pass from Kaiden Guhle between Ersson's pads.

Back in the lineup after being scratched the previous four games, it was Gallagher's first goal since Feb. 4.

"Every game in that jersey is special to me," he said. "I've been out of the lineup for a while and I just wanted to play well. Wanted to have a game you can be proud of and try to contribute to the success. Thought I did that and we'll see what happens going forward."

Michkov put the Flyers up 3-1 at 13:52, locating a loose puck in front of the crease and whipping in a wrist shot with Dobes out of position.

He finished the regular season with goals in three straight games and a Flyers-high 22 points (seven goals, 15 assists) in 26 games since the 2026 Winter Olympics. The 21-year-old had 29 points (13 goals, 16 assists) in 55 games before the break. 

"He's getting information, and I think he's starting to understand and apply it," Flyers coach Rick Tocchet said. "I think early on, maybe he didn't understand it as much and maybe got frustrated. ... I think he's just applying the information. I think communication is a lot better, too, with the language barrier and stuff like that."

Evans made it 3-2 at 19:49, diving into the crease to tap the puck past the goal line on the backhand after Ersson lost the rebound of Arber Xhekaj's shot from the blue line.

Bump put the Flyers ahead 4-2 at 12:00 of the third period. Canadiens forward Juraj Slafkovsky mishandled the puck in front of his own net, with Martone getting a stick on it and passing to Bump for the quick snap shot from the hash marks past Dobes.

NOTES: Martone had nine points (four goals, five assists) during a six-game point streak to close the season. The 19-year-old tied Sean Couturier (2011-12), Mike Ricci (1990-91) and Peter Zezel (1984-85) for the second-longest point streak by a Flyers teenager, behind Eric Lindros' seven-game streak in 1992-93. ... Michkov's goal was his 20th, following a 26-goal rookie season. He's the first Flyers player to begin his NHL career with back-to-back 20-goal seasons since Simon Gagne did it in three straight (1999-2002). ... Bonk became the third Flyers defenseman to have a multipoint game in his NHL debut, joining Gord Murphy (1988-89) and Behn Wilson (1978-79). ... Canadiens forward Oliver Kapanen played in his 100th career NHL game. ... Montreal forward Cole Caufield had 10 shots on goal, matching his single-game NHL best. He also had 10 on Jan. 18, 2025 in a 7-3 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs.