Matt Read ends goal drought in Flyers win

PHILADELPHIA -- Matt Read scored for the first time in nearly three months, the game-winning goal for the Philadelphia Flyers in a 3-1 victory against the Montreal Canadiens at Wells Fargo Center on Thursday.
The goal was Read's first in 27 games since Nov. 3.

"I consider myself a religious guy," Read said. "I know things are going to change and I trust the guy upstairs to give me another opportunity to score a goal."
WATCH: All Canadiens vs. Flyers highlights
Canadiens goalie Carey Price said he got a piece of Read's shot, which he said was like a knuckleball.
"He put it in a good spot, right in the top corner," Price said. "It was a really good shot."
Sean Couturier had a goal and an assist, and Claude Giroux also scored for Philadelphia (26-20-6). Michal Neuvirth made 15 saves.
Read also was part of a defensive effort, along with linemates Couturier and Nick Cousins, that held the Canadiens' top line of Max Pacioretty, Phillip Danault and Alexander Radulov to no points and three shots on goal.

"No matter who you're playing against you have to beat that line," Flyers coach Dave Hakstol said. "I thought tonight [the Couturier] line, they went out and they won a heck of a lot more shifts then they didn't."
The Flyers felt they needed an effort like the one they had Thursday after what they felt was one of their worst games of the season, a 5-1 loss at the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday.
"That's what we need," defenseman Mark Streit said. "Especially after having such a poor game defensively, you want to bounce back and you want to pay the right way. That's what we did tonight."
Nikita Nesterov, who was acquired in a trade with the Tampa Bay Lightning on Jan. 26, scored his first goal with Montreal (30-15-7). Price made 21 saves.
The Canadiens had a season-low 16 shots on goal. It's one fewer than they had against the Flyers on Nov. 5.
"We got a good start, but as soon as we scored a goal our attitude changed," Montreal coach Michel Therrien said. "We didn't have the attitude to compete. … We stopped skating. We didn't battle to loose pucks. They played a good game. On our side we didn't compete at all."

Nesterov's one-timer from the right point gave the Canadiens a 1-0 lead at 4:51 of the first period. Andrei Markov bumped Flyers forward Jakub Voracek off the puck and let it roll to Alex Galchenyuk at the right point. He sent it across to Nesterov, whose one-timer beat Neuvirth.
Giroux tied the game 1-1 with a power-play goal at 17:50 of the second period. His shot from the left side through traffic bounced off the top of Price's glove and trickled between his pads. It was Giroux's second goal in 17 games.
Couturier made it 3-1 with an empty-net goal with 13.1 seconds remaining.

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Goal of the game

Read got the puck on the right side on a 3-on-2 rush, and his slap shot from the top of the right circle beat Price to the far side past his blocker at 3:32 of the third period.
"Sometimes when the puck isn't going in the net you have a tendency to shoot it even less," Hakstol said. "Hopefully one going in for him, he'll get that shooter's instinct back."

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Save of the game

Canadiens forward Paul Byron drove to the net and tipped a Tomas Plekanec pass on net at 6:53 of the third, but Neuvirth made the save.

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Highlight of the game

Flyers forward Wayne Simmonds gave Price no chance to see Giroux's goal from the left side on a power play in the second period.

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Unsung performance of the game

The Flyers took one penalty and their penalty killers didn't allow a shot on goal. The Canadiens entered the game with the second-best power play in the League on the road (25.7 percent).

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They said it

"Those type of penalties are unacceptable. … We can't accept as a team to take those type of penalties." -- Canadiens coach Michel Therrien on Andrew Shaw's penalty for interference in the second period
"I think that's what the back half of the year is going to be like. We played probably our worst game of the year in Carolina [on Tuesday] and we needed to atone for that. Tonight was a good start." - - Flyers forward Wayne Simmonds

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Need to know

Read last scored in a 3-2 shootout win against the New York Islanders. ... Markov played his 961st NHL regular-season game, all with the Canadiens. He tied Guy Lafleur for eighth-most in Canadiens history. … The Flyers are 10-0-1 in their past 11 games against the Canadiens in Philadelphia.

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What's next

Canadiens: Host the Washington Capitals on Saturday (1 p.m. ET; SN, RDS, CSN-DC, NHL.TV)
Flyers: Host the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday (1 p.m. ET; NHLN, CSN-PH, FS-W, NHL.TV)