Matvei Michkov denies the CH a chance to secure home-ice advantage against Tampa Bay

Félix Forget
Matvei Michkov denies the CH a chance to secure home-ice advantage against Tampa Bay
Credit: DansLesCoulisses.com

Tonight, the Canadiens played their final game of the regular season. For the occasion, the team traveled to Philadelphia to face thePhantomsFlyers. As a reminder, the Habs needed to earn at least one point to maintain even the slightest chance of securing home-ice advantage in the first round.

For the occasion, Martin St-Louis rested a few of his veterans. Mike Matheson, Josh Anderson, and Phillip Danault all got the night off.

Adam Engström, Brendan Gallagher, and Joe Veleno returned to the lineup.

Except that when it came to resting players, the Flyers didn't hold back tonight. In fact, the home team's lineup looked a lot like their farm team's.

That said, Matvei Michkov was there… setting the stage for his first NHL matchup against David Reinbacher.

Except that in the end, it was thePhantomsFlyers who opened the scoring. Porter Martone was left unmarked in front of the net and was able to deflect a shot from Michkov into the Habs' net.

And this happened while Reinbacher was on the ice.

Then, a few minutes later, another young Flyers player scored: Oliver Bonk, recently called up from the AHL, scored his first NHL goal in his first career game.

For those wondering, he is indeed Radek's son.

After 20 minutes, the score was 2-0 in favor of the Flyers.

The Habs, however, showed some fight in the second period. Kaiden Guhle set up a goal for… Brendan Gallagher.

You couldn't make it up, hehe.

That said, the Flyers regained a two-goal lead a few minutes later.

And this time, Michkov didn't settle for an assist: he found the back of the net for his 20th goal of the season.

But with about ten seconds left in the period, the Habs cut the lead.

A shot by Arber Xhekaj created a rebound… which allowed Jake Evans to score thanks to a great individual effort.

After 40 minutes, the score was 3-2 in favor of the Flyers.

The Habs tried to get back into the game in the third… but once again, the Flyers regained a two-goal lead.

Alex Bump scored his team's fourth goal.

Jakub Dobes was pulled from the game with several minutes remaining, but it didn't change much: the Flyers held on.

The Habs thus end their regular season with a loss.

Final score: 4-2 Philadelphia

The Canadiens' next game will be the first game of their first-round series against the Lightning. It will take place in Tampa Bay on Sunday.


Overtime

– The Habs looked like a team that wasn't very interested in winning tonight. The team didn't really dominate a squad worthy of the AHL… and it felt like Martin St-Louis's men were comfortable with the idea of starting the playoffs on the road. And after today's loss, it's now official.

– Matvei Michkov was really, really good tonight. He led his team to victory almost single-handedly and clearly had the upper hand over David Reinbacher tonight. Reinbacher, however, bounced back well after a rough first period.

– Brendan Gallagher looked like a guy who wanted to prove something tonight. After being left out of the team's last four games, we saw a player who reminded everyone that he's capable of making an impact. Will he have done enough to make the lineup for Game #1 against the Lightning?

– Not ideal.

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