The Philadelphia Flyers have been shaky in first periods lately, a trend they will look to reverse on Black Friday when they host the Montreal Canadiens (3 p.m., RDS, CSN-PH).
The Flyers outlasted the New York Islanders 4-3 in a shootout Wednesday night to snap a two-game losing skid, but once again gave their opponents a head start with a slow first period. Philadelphia has been outscored 8-2 in the first period during the team's past three games, despite facing the Eastern Conference's three worst teams during that stretch.
Goalie Ilya Bryzgalov was yanked against the Islanders after allowing three first-period scores. His replacement, Sergei Bobrovsky, stopped all 23 shots he faced.
"What I'm most impressed with, is the resiliency to come back from that early deficit, the drive to stay with it," said Flyers head coach Peter Laviolette. "We got some really good performances out of key guys in the second and third periods."
The Canadiens are 6-4-0 on the road, including a 4-3 shootout win against Carolina on Wednesday.
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