MONTREAL _ It's not just that the Flyers are playing better hockey lately. They're doing it against teams that have also been playing better hockey, teams in desperate need of the two points surrendered.
And for one good reason: Carter Hart.
Hart held off an early Montreal onslaught and a frantic late one as the Flyers pushed their pre-bye week winning streak to three with a 5-2 victory. Nolan Patrick scored twice in the third period, his second sucking the momentary enthusiasm generated after Max Domi finally beat Hart at 7:36 of the third period.
Montreal got a second on Brett Kulak's rebound at 16:00 of the third period but Michael Raffl iced it with an empty-netter in the final minute.
The victory snapped the Canadiens' own streak at four. The Habs were also in search of their 2,000th franchise home win, the first of the original six teams to reach the cusp of that mark.
With his boyhood hero, Carey Price, watching from the bench, Hart did a worthy imitation to keep the game scoreless in the first period. The shots were 12-1 Montreal, although Wayne Simmonds hit a post and near-miss and Travis Konecny pushed a pass wide of an open net. But those chances were anomalies in a period that leaned heavily to one side, the Canadiens shooters continually testing the glove and reflexes of the Flyers 20-year-old rookie.
Meanwhile Canadiens backup Antti Niemi, who made 52 saves in a victory over Florida earlier last week, was on a pace for a three-save night.
That changed after the Flyers went on the power play seven minutes into the second period. They began to get pucks to the net and as is so often the case when one goalie has not seen many shots, Niemi let in two.
Travis Konecny knocked in a rebound with Oskar Lindblom at the doorstop at 17:01 of the second. Ninety-three seconds later, James van Riemsdyk redirected a wandering shot off the stick of Robert Hagg from the high slot to push it to 2-0.
The Flyers outshot the Canadiens 13-10 in that period. But Hart was plenty busy _ and plenty smart. He continually defused the Montreal's offensive zone mayhem with freezes.
"Ice in his veins," Wayne Simmonds had said before this game when asked what made him good.
You would think he might be a little nervous playing in front of Price, whose poster adorned his bedroom wall as a kid, or playing in Montreal for the first time as a pro.
You would be wrong.
Some nifty work by Simmonds on a 2-on-1 with Patrick upped the Flyers lead to 3-0 at 7:05 of the third period, but that comfort level was short-lived. Thirty one seconds later Domi finally beat Hart's glove, wristing a drop pass from Tomas Tatar into the twine.
On the road, in a raucous building, the Flyers often became undone for much of this season. With the arrival of interim coach Scott Gordon, the Flyers have dealt with tight games better. After winning three times by one goal in their first 31 games, they have five one-goal victories with Gordon at the helm...
And Hart in the net.
Saturday night's victory gave the Flyers 44 points. According to Sportsclubstats.com, they would need a 25-6-3 record over their final 34 games to accumulate the 97 points achieved by last season's 8th seed (New Jersey) _ a winning percentage that exceeds that of Tampa Bay, by far the best team this season.
"I haven't done the math, and I really don't want to," Flyers defenseman Robert Hagg said after practice Friday. "The only thing I know is that we need every single point that we can get. The thing that's going for us is that nobody believes we can make the playoffs."
Except them of course.
