Flyers overcome Canadiens’ second period flurry to win, 5-4, in a shootout

MONTREAL — After two consecutive bad losses, Flyers coach Rick Tocchet said on Sunday night he wanted his team to show some will.

On Tuesday morning, he said he expected his team to respond, and they did, jumping out to a 3-0 lead in the first 20 minutes, quieting the Bell Centre crowd. But the Montreal Canadiens, who started the night tied for the top spot in the Eastern Conference with three other teams, also responded.

Not to be deterred, the Flyers battled back for a 5-4 shootout win. The Flyers are now 3-0 in shootouts. Trevor Zegras scored once again, while Dan Vladař stopped Ivan Demidov, Cole Caufield, and Nick Suzuki on their attempts.

» READ MORE: Rick Tocchet wants to see ‘some will’ — and more shots on goal — from his Flyers

Nikita Grebenkin tied the game at 4-4 with 10 minutes, 50 seconds left in regulation with his first NHL goal.

Travis Konecny gained the puck in the zone and dropped it to Grebenkin along the boards. The Russian winger skated to the middle of the ice, and as Jamie Drysdale sliced through to the net, he fired the wrister through traffic.

On the goal, Montreal goalie Sam Montembeault did not have his stick after his own teammate, Alexandre Carrier, and Grebenkin knocked it away from him earlier on the shift.

Tocchet also said on Sunday, after the Flyers’ 2-1 loss to the Calgary Flames, that it was “alarming” that the team hadn’t scored a tip-in goal through 12 games. Ask and you shall receive, Tocc. The Flyers took a 1-0 lead 1:56 into the game on a tip-in by Bobby Brink.

All the credit for the goal goes to captain Sean Couturier, who seemed to respond to Tocchet’s mention of leadership after Sunday’s loss.

Not known for his speed, Couturier negated an icing call and then protected the puck along the end boards from two Canadiens, with a third hovering. As the puck moved up the boards to Cam York and across to Travis Sanheim for the shot-pass, Couturier cut across the crease to distract goalie Montembeault.

Philly added two goals on the power play to take a 3-0 lead by the 7:50 mark of the opening frame. The Flyers entered the night with the 20th-best power play in the NHL (18.9%) and finished 2-for-6.

York scored his first goal of the year on a five-on-three after Canadiens defensemen Mike Matheson sent the puck over the glass, and Noah Dobson got called for cross-checking 28 seconds into the first penalty.

» READ MORE: Christian Dvorak returns to Montreal having left a major impact on the young Canadiens

Despite the changes on the power-play units, York and Zegras ended up on the ice together and connected once again. This time, they crossed above the circles, and Zegras fed a backhand pass with his back turned to York for the one-timer. The assist was Zegras’ 200th point in 281 career games.

Brink scored his second of the night on the five-on-four as he banged in the puck near the left post. Zegras was in the right circle and tried to draw in the Canadiens, but instead, they watched the puck and allowed Brink to slide out of the bumper to score.

But then the highly talented Canadiens, who entered the night second in the NHL in goals per game (3.67), took over in the second period.

Kirby Dach scored a pair of goals, his first coming from the bottom of the right circle after Dobson’s shot missed and ricocheted right to him to make it 3-1. His second tied the game after 2025 Calder Trophy winner Lane Hutson carried the puck down and fed Dach for the short-side goal.

In between his goals, Montreal captain Suzuki scored on the power play, as did Demidov to make it 4-3. Suzuki’s goal came off some nice passing by the Canadiens, ending with Demidov threading the needle to Suzuki for the one-timer as Vladař could not slide across quickly enough. Demidov’s goal came as he received the puck and skated into the right circle before snapping it past Vladař.

Montreal came into the game with the sixth-best power play (28.6%) and the Flyers were tied atop the NHL in penalty killing (90.5%) with the Buffalo Sabres.

» READ MORE: Flyers place Tyson Foerster on injured reserve, recall Emil Andrae

Rodrigo Ābols left warmups early, but according to the Flyers’ public relations, he was a healthy scratch. … Defenseman Emil Andrae slotted back into the lineup alongside Noah Juulsen with Egor Zamula coming out. … Forward Nic Deslauriers, who did not play over the weekend, skated on the fourth line and dropped the gloves with Arber Xhekaj in the third period. Deslauriers fought his brother, Florian, in the preseason. … The Flyers put a season-high 42 shots on goal. Their previous high was 34 set in a 3-2 shootout win against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Oct. 28. … Zegras has 15 points in 13 games. … With two assists, Konecny extended his point streak to five games. He has three goals and three assists during the streak and 10 points in 13 games. … Vladař allowed four goals on 20 shots, stopping all seven he saw in the third period and both shots in overtime.

The Flyers practice in Montreal before hopping a flight to Nashville to close out the season series with the Predators on Thursday (8 p.m., NBCSP).