Canadiens rebound without Julien to even series with Flyers
Columbia Basin Herald | UPDATED 4 years, 5 months AGO
TORONTO (AP) — Tomas Tatar and Jesperi Kotkaniemi each scored twice, Carey Price stopped 30 shots and the Montreal Canadiens rebounded without coach Claude Julien to rout the Philadelphia Flyers 5-0 on Friday and tie the series at a game apiece.
Julien was home in Montreal a day after a stent was placed in a coronary artery. The team said doctors expect a full recovery.
Julien was rushed to St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto overnight Wednesday with chest pain. He had surgery Thursday. Because Julien left the NHL bubble in Toronto, he will have to follow quarantine protocol if he wishes to re-enter it. Kirk Muller will serve as interim head coach for the rest of the Eastern Conference quarterfinal series.
Game 3 is Sunday night.
The Canadiens roughed up Flyers goalie Carter Hart, who turned 22 on Thursday, and scored four goals through two periods to send him to the bench.
Joel Armia also scored for Montreal.
The Canadiens continued their sensational surge through Toronto hockey and bounced back fine after a 2-1 Game 1 loss. Montreal was the last team in the East to qualify for the expanded playoffs, and then needed four games to win its best-of-five series over Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins.
AVALANCHE 3, COYOTES 2
EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Andre Burakovsky scored late in the third period, Philipp Grubauer stopped 30 shots and Colorado beat Arizona to take a 2-0 series lead.
Burakovsky scored with 2:53 left in regulation when a shot by Kazem Kadri hit Arizona defenseman Jakob Chychrun’s shin pad and left goalie Darcy Kuemper out of position.
The Avalanche scored early in the opening two periods on goals by Nathan MacKinnon and Tyson Jost. Arizona responded each time, tying it on a goal by Clayton Keller in the first and Michael Grabner in the second.
Game 3 is Saturday.