Joel Armia scored twice as the Montreal Canadiens fought for their lives in a 5-3 win over the Philadelphia Flyers to push for a Game 6.
It was a go big or go home kind of night for the Montreal Canadiens. After two straight shutouts, the Canadiens fell 3-1 in their series against the Philadelphia Flyers, putting them on the brink of elimination. It was a hard-fought battle, but they managed to stay in the series for at least another game.
The Crucial First Goal
It wasn’t long after the national anthems that the Montreal Canadiens were fighting for their lives. Although they took an early penalty, notched a short-handed goal straight down the middle of Carter Hart to put the Canadiens up 1-0. Joël Armia continued to have a strong period after struggling in Games 3 and 4.
The first goal has been of great importance in this series. In each of the five games played, the team that got on the board first would also go on to win the game. The hope for Montreal would be that this holds true. Fortunately for them, it did.
Brendan Gallagher showed heightened aggression that had been missing throughout the series and looked more like himself as the period progressed. The forward showed visible frustration whilst taking questions from the media as he continued to deal with a scoring drought and being benched by Kirk Muller in the third period. If Gallagher was looking to get back to his regular ice time, he was off to a good start.
Kotkaniemi’s Misconduct and End to End Hockey
The second period of play was by far some of the most eventful hockey we have seen from these two teams at the same time. Throughout the series, it was either the Montreal Canadiens or Philadelphia Flyers completely controlling the pace.
Montreal Canadiens forward Jesperi Kotkaniemi was handed a five-minute major and a game misconduct for a boarding call on Philadelphia Flyers defenceman Travis Sanheim. Depending on the outlets the game was being viewed or heard on, there were differing opinions regarding whether or not the referees made the right call on the play—more on this following the period summary.