Flyers officially eliminated from playoffs after loss to Montreal Canadiens

MONTREAL — Interim coach Brad Shaw wanted to go into the Bell Centre and spoil the Montreal Canadiens’ playoff hopes. But while it’s fun to take the life out of the building — which they did at times — it’s not easy to sustain.

Although the Flyers came out with energy and gusto, and took an early lead, it’s hard to compete with the power surge the Bell Centre and its rabid fans can give the hometown team. In between cheers and chants, the Canadiens showed why they are on the precipice of a return to the playoffs, handing the Flyers a 3-2 loss.

The loss snapped the three-game winning streak to start the Brad Shaw Era and officially eliminated the Flyers from the playoffs.

“In that building, the more they can play in the offensive zone, it really adds energy to it, and so they feed off that,” Shaw said. “So we talked about that, about trying to stay away from it, and just couldn’t quite help ourselves.”

The Flyers’ goal 4 minutes, 10 seconds into the game was thanks to a guy who knows all about big moments at the Bell Centre. Ryan Poehling, who scored a hat trick and the shootout winner in his first NHL game when he suited up for the Canadiens, scored his fourth goal during a three-game streak.

Matvei Michkov started the Flyers’ breakout with a pass to Jakob Pelletier. The Quebec native skated through the neutral zone and dished the puck to Cam York on his left. The pass didn’t fully connect, but the defenseman regrouped and fed a quick pass to Pelletier, who corralled the puck with one hand on his stick before passing it to Poehling on his right. The Minnesotan had some room and scored on the backhand for his career-high 12th goal this season.

“Just having confidence,” Poehling said about his recent surge that has seen him score eight times in the past 11 games. “But on top of that, I think it’s just doing the same stuff, consistently.”

Shaw thought his club managed the environment well early on, knowing the challenge was to keep them quiet. The Flyers had a chance to widen the gap in the opening frame with a four-minute power play but could only muster three shot attempts, with one being a shot on goal by Sean Couturier; the Canadiens had three shots go wide while shorthanded.

The power play did go 1-for-4, thanks to Tyson Foerster making it 3-2 with a six-on-four tally with 40 seconds remaining in regulation. Canadiens goalie Sam Montembeault had Foerster’s quick shot off a pass from Travis Konecny squeeze through. The hometown fans weren’t happy on the play, as seconds prior, Foerster had knocked the stick out of the hands of Jake Evans.

Sam Ersson got the start and looked laser-focused early on. In the first period, he stoned Cole Caufield from the bumper during a Canadiens power play and robbed the 35-goal scorer again in the second period on a tip. His prettiest save was less than 90 seconds later when he made a flashy glove save on a Christian Dvorak one-timer off a rush.

Ersson stopped the 15 shots he saw across the first two periods, including 11 in the second. But then, 84 seconds into the third, Brendan Gallagher broke through with a quick strike from the right faceoff circle.

And 76 seconds later, Lane Hutson gave the Canadiens a 2-1 lead. The NHL’s rookie points leader carried the puck up the ice from behind his own goal. He skated past Noah Cates down the left side and was kept to the outside by Jamie Drysdale but sent a shot from the goal line that snuck past Ersson.

Hutson’s goal moved him five points ahead of Michkov for the rookie points lead.

Nick Suzuki added a short-handed goal after he outraced the Flyers on a puck sent deep into their end. Ersson said on the play that his stick had slipped slightly as he was getting set.

“If you look at it, you’re up by one going into the third on the road,” Ersson said about giving up three goals in the final frame. “So, it’s a good situation. I think any team would take that. Obviously, it [stinks] we couldn’t find a way to get the win.”

Karsen Dorwart made his NHL debut. The undrafted center, slotted between Nick Deslauriers and Garnet Hathaway, did not look out of place at five-on-five while also getting time on the second power play. In 10:32 of ice time, he had two shots, one missed shot, and two hits.

The Flyers will face the New York Rangers on Wednesday at Madison Square Garden (7:30 p.m., TNT, truTV, MAX).