Sean Couturier is feeling “confident” going into the 2024-25 season after having “minor” offseason surgery.
The Flyers were shut out by the Canadiens, 5-0, Monday night at Bell Centre in their second preseason game.
Things got away from the Flyers in the opening 5:39 minutes of the third period when they surrendered three goals. Montreal tacked on one more for good measure with 2:15 minutes left in the action.
AHL affiliate Lehigh Valley head coach Ian Laperriere led the Flyers behind the bench and had some NHL regulars in his lineup. But he also didn't have the team's top five scorers from last season and neither of its goalies.
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The Flyers are 1-1-0 so far in the exhibition slate and have five games remaining. They opened the preseason with a 6-2 win Sunday afternoon over the Capitals.
• Because the Flyers had few to no bright spots, Ronnie Attard's tough night was magnified.
The 25-year-old is battling to be one of the club's top call-up options on the back end and the competition has gotten crowded. He opened camp paired with prospect Carter Sotheran, a sign that he was possibly viewed a peg down from Emil Andrae and Adam Ginning.
Playing alongside Louie Belpedio on Monday night, Attard had a couple of costly turnovers in the second period, the first of which led directly to the Canadiens' game-opening goal.
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He committed a penalty and finished with a minus-3 rating, as did Belpedio.
Attard is a good, hard-working kid who can shoot the puck. But he has to be much more reliable defensively than he was against Montreal. It was a performance that likely hurt his cause in the eyes of the Flyers' decision-makers.
• Attard wasn't the only Flyer not up to par. While they unraveled defensively in the third period, the Flyers never really looked dangerous offensively. Sean Couturier, Scott Laughton, Tyson Foerster, Bobby Brink and Ryan Poehling couldn't get much going.
The Flyers may have gotten snubbed of the game-opening goal when a puck bounced off Couturier on a first-period power play. Officials deemed it goaltending interference on Anthony Richard.
• If the Flyers are looking for a positive, Rasmus Ristolainen would be a good option.
The 29-year-old defenseman saw his first game action since February after being limited to a career-low 31 games last season because of injuries.
Ristolainen was solid in all-situation minutes Monday night, recording four hits, three shots and three blocked shots. He looked effective on the penalty kill, using his length to help the Flyers fend off a 5-on-3 Canadiens power play in the first period.
• Eetu Makiniemi, the Alexei Kolosov replacement right now, started in net and stopped 13 of 14 shots.
He split the game with Cal Petersen, who made eight saves on 12 shots in relief. Ristolainen was the only defenseman with over 100 games of NHL experience in the Flyers' lineup.
• The Flyers are scheduled to be off Tuesday before resuming camp Wednesday.
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