Flyers deal with more goalie uncertainty before facing Canadiens (Feb 19, 2018)
The Philadelphia Flyers are winning games despite the fact that they are losing goalies.
The Flyers, who host the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday night, improved to 6-0-2 in their last eight games with Sunday's 7-4 win over the New York Rangers.
Along the way, they lost goaltender Michal Neuvirth to a lower-body injury. Neuvirth was playing in place of injured Brian Elliott.
Alex Lyon made 25 saves in relief for the Flyers to pick up his first NHL win and may see more action depending on the severity of Neuvirth's injury.
"It's tough, but it's the next-in-line mentality," Flyers defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere told the Courier-Post. "We're gonna play with whoever's in. If that's gonna be Al or someone else, it is what it is. We're gonna play the same way."
The Flyers did not provide an update on Neuvirth's condition but acquired goalie Petr Mrazek from the Detroit Red Wings late Monday for a conditional fourth-round pick in the 2018 draft and a conditional third-round pick in 2019. The Red Wings also reportedly picked up half of the 26-year-old's $4 million salary.
Mrazek has appeared in 166 games for the Red Wings since making his NHL debut during the 2012-13 campaign, posting a 72-58-20 record with a 2.60 goal-against average, a .912 save percentage and 13 shutouts.
Lyon is 0-2-0 with a 4.24 goals-against average and an .844 save percentage in two starts this season.
Against New York, Claude Giroux had three points, including his 200th NHL goal, and MacDonald, Scott Laughton, Brandon Manning, Nolan Patrick, Travis Konecny and Jori Lehtera scored for the Flyers.
"It's that time of year, February and March, it's a real grind and you're playing every other day," MacDonald told NHL.com. "These are tough games, but ... we're finding ways to win and it's a testament to a good team and good team effort."
The Flyers (30-19-10) have scored at least three goals in six of their past eight games and are 22-8-3 since Dec. 4. They are tied with the New Jersey Devils for third place in the Metropolitan Division.
"We feel every time we drop the puck we're going to win that game," Gostisbehere told NHL.com.
Montreal (22-29-7) limps into Philadelphia having lost five straight games (0-4-1) and eight of 10 (2-7-1). The Canadiens were doubled up 6-3 in Las Vegas on Saturday night.
"We had soft sticks; we simply weren't good enough," Habs coach Claude Julien told the Montreal Gazette.
Charles Hudon, Nikita Scherbak and Jonathan Drouin scored for the Canadiens against the Golden Knights. Vegas broke open a 3-2 game with two second-period goals. The Canadiens have been outscored 21-10 during the losing streak.
"It's always tough when you lose," Scherbak, whose goal was his second in the NHL and first in nine games this season, told NHL.com. "We're trying to stick together. We have a great group of guys here, everybody supports each other, and nobody is happy to lose."
Antti Niemi started in goal but was pulled after allowing three goals on six shots in 9:51. Carey Price made 25 saves in relief.
Price is 13-11 with a 2.63 GAA and a .915 save percentage in his career versus the Flyers. He made 23 saves and allowed four goals in 5-3 loss on Feb. 8 at Philadelphia.
Konecny scored twice and Giroux had a goal and two assists for the Flyers. Giroux has 10 goals and 12 assists in 22 career games against the Canadiens.
Montreal is finishing a four-game road trip before heading home for four straight.
