The Flyers had a power play with 2:07 left in the third and a chance to repeat what they did on Sunday. A late goal in the preseason opener set up a shootout win. On Tuesday night in Montreal, the comeback bid would come up short.
The Flyers were not able to recover from 2-0 and 3-1 deficits, falling to the Canadiens, 4-2, in their second preseason game.
Montreal opened the scoring just 53 seconds into the game. Off a turnover by Sean Couturier, Montreal’s top players went to work on a 3-on-2. Lane Hutson set up Cole Caufield for the one-timer and the opening goal.
The Canadiens added to the lead at the midpoint of the period. Florian Xhekaj beat Sam Ersson was a shot that leaked through the netminder, making it 2-0 at 9:58.
Through 20 minutes, shots were 9-5 Montreal.
The Flyers got on the board at 11:11 of the second. Anthony Richard got a breakaway and finished to cut the lead to one.
Montreal got the goal back at 16:05. Nick Suzuki finished off a pretty passing play by going upstairs on Aleksei Kolosov to make it 3-1.
But the Flyers answered back on the power play with 2:25 remaining in the period. Owen Tippett fired a shot past Kappo Kahkonen to cut the lead to one again.
Through two periods, shots were 12-11 Flyers.
The Flyers made their push in the third, getting several good scoring chances on a couple of breakaway opportunities. They were unable to beat Kahkonen any further.
As the final seconds ticked away, a fumbled zone entry went to Arber Xhekaj, who fired the length of the ice to score an empty-net goal and cap the scoring.
Ersson made seven saves on nine shots in a period of play. Kolosov stopped 12 of 13 shots he faced. Jakub Dobes stopped all nine shots from the Flyers in the first half of action. Kahkonen made 10 saves on 12 shots in relief.
The Flyers are back in action on Thursday, as they take on the Washington Capitals from Hershey at 7 p.m.
