Matt Read Snaps Long Goal Drought, the Unlikely Hero in Flyers' Win Over Canadiens

He began the season by scoring five goals in five games.
 
Matt Read was on fire.
 
Then he flamed out.
 
One goal over the next 33 games until Thursday night, when the 30-year-old winger became a most unlikely hero with a wicked shot from the circle - off the rush, no less - that beat Carey Price.
 
Yeah, Price.
 
It became the game-winner, as the Flyers won, 3-1 over the Canadiens (see game story).
 
No one knew Read could fire a puck that hard. So where has this shot been all season?
 
"I wish I knew," Read said. "I just had an opportunity to shoot the puck, shot as hard as I could and I got lucky. The good man upstairs is looking out for me tonight.
 
"Right when I touched it, it came up on its edge and I looked up to see what was around. Then I put my head down and swung as hard as I can … when I looked up, it was coming out of the back of the net."
 
It was Read's first goal in 27 games. His teammates noticed.
 
"Really nice to see," Wayne Simmonds said. "It was a heck of a shot, a game-winning goal and it was really good for him and the team as well. He beat him clean top corner."
 
Read's line, centered by Sean Couturier with Nick Cousins at left wing, was outstanding defensively, holding Montreal's top line to just three shots while scoring two goals.
 
Couturier chipped in with an empty-netter.
 
Read admits he's been frustrated with his lack of offense this season.
 
"I try to show up every night to work hard," he said. "I do as much as I can to help the team. When things don't go your way, it is obviously frustrating.
 
"But you got to have fun out here and help the team as much as you can. The most important point is getting a win, getting two points and keep climbing the standings."
 
The victory allowed the Flyers to retain the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference with 58 points. Overall, is was an all-around solid defensive effort. Games like this win playoff games. Not offense - defense.
 
"The whole team was skating well and doing things with the puck and putting pucks in areas where we can get them back," Read said. "I thought, if we play like that every night it's going to be hard to beat us."
 
The Flyers managed the puck well. They didn't turn it over. They didn't give the Habs anything cheap like that did at Carolina on Tuesday and held Montreal to 16 shots.
 
"You know, it's all about consistency in this league as individuals and as a team," Mark Streit said. "During that winning streak, 10 games, a lot of times, we played that way.
 
"We were patient, we played smart and we're going to need that in the next few months in order to be successful because all the teams are going to grind. All the teams are going to play well defensively. You just can't give up too many shots or too many opportunities."