Montreal Canadiens blowout Philadelphia Flyers to even up series

With a blowout win in Game 2, the Montreal Canadiens are even with the Philadelphia Flyers in their series.

The Montreal Canadiens bounced back with a huge 5-0 win in game two against the Philadelphia Flyers to tie the series at one game apiece. The Canadiens were playing their first game without head coach Claude Julien, who returned to Montreal after being admitted to the hospital due to chest pains on Wednesday night. Montreal associate coach Kirk Muller has taken over head coaching duties for the remainder of the series.

From the moment the puck dropped, the Canadiens were all over the Flyers. It took just 62 seconds for Montreal to get on the board when Tomas Tatar buried a rebound from a  Brendan Gallagher shot, giving Montreal a 1-0 lead.

Following the goal, Montreal stepped on the gas. The Habs controlled the tempo of the first period and didn’t give the Flyers a chance to generate any offense. Philadelphia didn’t have a shot on goal until almost 17 minutes into the game. Montreal’s defense swarmed the Flyers’ forwards every time they entered the zone. Philadelphia was outshot 16-6 in the period.

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20-year-old Jesperi Kotkaniemi scored his third goal of the playoffs at the 12:36 mark of the first. Flyers goalie Carter Hart stopped the initial shot from Jonathan Drouin, but Kotkaniemi was sitting in front of goal and slipped the rebound past Hart’s legs, putting Montreal up by two heading into the second period.

Coming out of the intermission, Montreal continued their dominance. Tomas Tatar scored his second goal of the game on the powerplay in the opening minutes of the second. Tatar found some space at the top of the circle and rifled a wrist shot off the post and in, to go up 3-0 early into the second.

Philadelphia had no momentum in the game but they had a glorious opportunity to cut the score when they had a 5 on 3 powerplay midway through the second. The Flyers had some chances to score but Carey Price stood on his head and kept the lead at three.

Carter Hart’s night came to an end when Joel Armia’s shot hit a skate and went in with just about two minutes left in the second. Hart was replaced by the veteran backup, Brian Elliot.

Jesperi Kotkaniemi put the icing on the cake with his second goal of the night, putting his team up 5-0. Carey Price had his seventh career playoff shutout and Kirk Muller got his first career NHL playoff win as a head coach.

Philadelphia didn’t play like the top-ranked team in the East today and Montreal looks way better than their seeding gives them credit for. Game three is on Sunday night at 8 pm est.