Led by Frost's 2-goal night, Flyers punctuate 5-1-1 homestand originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
In a matchup of two bottom-seven, future-focused clubs, the Flyers capped off an impressive homestand with a 3-2 win Tuesday night over the Canadiens at the Wells Fargo Center.
Morgan Frost led the way with two goals for the Flyers (29-32-12), who extended their season-best point streak to six games (5-0-1).
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Owen Tippett scored an empty-netter.
John Tortorella's club went 5-1-1 on its season-long homestand and put up 4.00 goals per game.
The Flyers entered the home swing scoring 2.55 goals per game, 30th in the NHL.
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Amid a month of March that has previewed changing times for the rebuilding club, Tortorella further discussed the franchise's big picture.
"We want to get it to the [level of the] other teams in the [Philadelphia] sports complex, we want to get it revved up that way like those teams have done it, get the building filled again, get [the fans] thinking about the really good stuff that happens at the end of years: playoffs. And that's our goal," Tortorella said Tuesday morning. "But there's more pain. To me, it's good pain. I think it's going to be a different level of pain, hopefully, next year. Because I think there are levels and then you start getting to the really good part of the process of seeing what it's going to look like."
For the NHL draft lottery followers, the Flyers are now four points up on the Canadiens (30-39-6) and have two games in hand.
"I think the teams tried, but it's two teams out of the playoffs," Tortorella said. "I think that's what it looked like tonight. And it's the first one that we have experienced. It's not effort — it just was an ugly game. Really neither team generated a whole bunch, but you have to try to find a way to win those games and we did."
The Flyers went 1-1-1 against Montreal in the three-game regular-season series.
• Just after a power play expired, Kevin Hayes found Frost with a nice feed across the goal crease as the Flyers grabbed a 1-0 lead early in the second period.
With 2:15 minutes left in the third period, Frost delivered the go-ahead marker on a great shot in transition.
"I was thinking pass — like I usually do — most of the way and then I kind of saw that the second guy was going to over-backcheck," Frost said. "So I switched it up last minute and ending up shooting."
Since the calendar turned to 2023, Frost leads the Flyers in points with 24 (nine goals, 15 assists) over 36 games.
"Positioning, body position, battles — just a 200-foot player," Tortorella said about Frost's areas of improvement. "We know he has skill. We need to keep on seeing the skill. But for a coach to put a player on the ice that he’s still not sure of, that other stuff has to be sound. And I think he has really improved there."
With 52 points on the season, Hayes is four away from setting a new career high.
The Flyers scored three or more goals in every game of the homestand.
For a while Tuesday night, it looked like they missed 21-year-old prospect Tyson Foerster.
• Carter Hart was on the ice at morning skate and projected to start, but the Flyers kept him out of the net because of a lower-body injury.
The 24-year-old is considered day to day.
Felix Sandstrom started in Hart's place and finished with 27 saves for his second career win.
"It's starting to click more for me," the 26-year-old said. "I feel better and better. It's fun, it's great to be out there and great to play with the guys. I'm happy for every game."
Montreal tied the game, 1-1, in the second period when the Flyers failed to clear a bouncing puck from a dangerous area. Brendan Gallagher pounced on it and fired a sharp shot past Sandstrom.
The Canadiens' second goal came late with their net emptied.
The Flyers helped their own cause by staying out of the penalty box all night.
Montreal netminder Cayden Primeau, the son of former Flyers captain Keith Primeau, stopped 24 shots.
• Nicolas Deslauriers returned to the lineup after missing the past two games with an upper-body injury.
Sean Couturier (back) and Travis Konecny (upper body) took the ice in the morning for the Flyers' optional skate.
• The Flyers hit the road for the first time in over two and a half weeks Thursday when they visit Claude Giroux and the Senators (7 p.m. ET/NBCSP).
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