Canadiens' P.K. Subban blasts Flyers' Radko Gudas for hit

Flyers defenseman Radko Gudas was given a five-minute "clipping" penalty for knocking down Montreal's Lucas Lessio along the boards with 7:44 left Tuesday, hitting his left knee and sending the winger falling to the ice in pain — and drawing the ire of the Canadiens' P.K. Subban.

"I thought it was low," Subban said after the Flyers defeated the fading Canadiens, 4-2, at the Wells Fargo Center. "I mean, when I saw the replay on the screen in front of the bench — I didn't see it live — it looked like it was low.  I don't know the player personally but it seems like when you're on the ice with him he's the type of guy who will do stuff like that."

Subban, an all-star defenseman, wasn't done."I don't think it's anything that reflects on their team," he said. "They have guys that play the game hard and finish their checks, which you need to respect. But I don't respect guys that do hits like that. You know what you're doing in that situation, and I thought it was low."

Gudas, who received a five-minute major and a game-misconduct, declined a chance to comment.

The refs didn't call the penalty right away, allowing the Flyers to control the puck for several seconds. Finally, after a stoppage, they decided to penalize Gudas — apparently after it appeared Lessio, who was playing in his first game with Montreal this season, was injured.

As he walked down the runway, a furious Gudas snapped his stick in two, according to CSN's John Boruk.

Was the hit suspension-worthy? We will find out Wednesday.

The Flyers killed the five-minute penalty  — and had two shorthanded breakaways during it — and maintained their 3-2 lead until Matt Read scored an empty-net goal.

Steve Mason made six saves during the Canadiens' five-minute power play.

"Mase did a great job," captain Claude Giroux said. "I really think your best penalty killer is your goalie, and tonight that was the case."

Mason praised his teammates for their shot blocking and the "compete to take time and space away" during the key penalty kill.

During the five-minute PK, Ryan White, Chris VandeVelde, Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, Giroux, Sean Couturier, Matt Read, Evgeny Medvedev, Nick Schultz, and Mark Streit turned in strong shifts.

Montreal had one goal in 10:31 of power-play time; the Flyers had two goals ion 6:03 of PP time.

Reversing a trend. In the past two seasons, the Flyers have not played well after returning after a long layoff. Reversing that trend was on their mind Tuesday, Wayne Simmonds said.

"I think that was probably one of the first things we talked about once we got back from the break," said Simmonds after scoring his 15th and 16th goals. "We wanted to make sure we stayed on our Ps and Qs."

Quotable. Flyers coach Dave Hakstol: "There was a little bite to this game."

Breakaways. Because they are playing almost every other night — or on back-to-back nights — the Flyers will have primarily optional practices  to conserve energy, Hakstol said....Jake Voracek, who has made a smooth transition to left wing, has three goals and five assists in his last four games.... Brayden Schenn has three goals and three assists in his last four games...Shayne Gostisbehere's five-game points streak is the longest for a Flyers rookie since Couturier's six-gamer in January of 2012...Gudas received a three-game suspension earlier this season....The Flyers will play in Nashville on Thursday against Peter Laviolette's Predators.