Flyers' offense breaks out

MONTREAL - Ten goals.

Ninety-four penalty minutes. Three misconducts.

One fight. One match penalty. One concussion.

And when it was all over, one lonely hat littered the Bell Centre ice as bleu, blanc et rouge-clad fans streamed into the chilly Montreal night as bewildered as fans back in Philadelphia after watching Scott Hartnell's hat trick lead the Flyers to a shocking, 7-3 win over the second-place Canadiens.

Where was that effort all season?

After scoring just three goals in their last four games, the Flyers exploded for an outburst against the Canadiens that matched their season high set on Feb. 18 vs. the playoff-bound Islanders.

"It feels great," Hartnell said. "It has been a tough year for goals, especially the last few games. Our power play was great. You never know. We were quietly confident before the game. We played the right way tonight, too."

Monday night's circus featured a little bit of everything. The Flyers scored twice in the first 5:49 and Kurtis Foster dropped the gloves 22 seconds later to defend teammate Kent Huskins after a dirty, head-hunting hit by the Canadiens' Ryan White.

White was ejected for the hit with a match penalty and is almost surely facing a suspension from NHL discipline chief Brendan Shanahan.

Foster perfectly showed the Flyers' unwavering, relentless refusal to crumble - not against questionable hits, questionable penalties or questionable goals-against. Teammates backed each other up, even if it meant playing with four defensemen for more than a full period. Defenseman Luke Schenn played a career-high 33 minutes, 56 seconds.

It was simply the Flyers' most complete and convincing effort as a team.

"Montreal, all year, they've been playing together and sticking together," Claude Giroux said. "Tonight we did that. We were going after other guys for our teammates. We need to have more of that."

Hartnell nabbed his sixth hat trick since joining the Flyers in 2007 and his first since Jan. 22, 2012 against Boston. Two of his three goals came on the power play, after the Flyers had failed on 17 straight opportunities. Jake Voracek and Giroux each had three-point nights.

"When guys get hit, especially when they're vulnerable, you need guys to step up and defend their teammates," Hartnell said. "It was a great team victory."

The only downfall is that a win now - after the Flyers are all but mathematically eliminated from a playoff spot - decreases their number of pingpong balls in the NHL draft lottery. The Flyers jumped from 26th overall (8.1 percent shot at No. 1 pick) to 23rd overall (3.6 percent) in the league standings, damaging their quest for mega-prospect Seth Jones.

"It's almost embarrassing, not making the playoffs," Giroux said. "We're a team that should be in the playoffs. It's just frustrating. But we still have some games left, we need to continue to work hard."

The Flyers lost two more bodies during the game.

Defenseman Kent Huskins left after Ryan White's hit with what the Flyers immediately deemed a concussion.

Huskins, 33, was clearly woozy and had trouble getting to his feet. He's played eight games with the Flyers since being acquired from Detroit on March 30.

Forward Ruslan Fedotenko also left the game in the second period with an apparent shoulder injury but did return. He was boarded by Alex Galchenyuk.

With a quick turnaround before Tuesday night's visit by the Rangers, the Flyers will need to make adjustments. Healthy scratch Mike Knuble likely would replace Fedotenko in the lineup. They would probably need to make alternate arrangements on defense, likely an emergency call-up from Adirondack.

Bruno Gervais was scratched against Montreal, but he is injured. Gervais did not practice Friday, did not play in Buffalo on Saturday, and skated for only 5 minutes before leaving the pregame skate in Montreal. When pressed for an injury update on Gervais, general manager Paul Holmgren refused to provide one.

Gervais said after the game that he is "a little banged up" and "not 100 percent."

Without officially announcing anything, Paul Holmgren offered a vote of confidence for coach Peter Laviolette when asked by the Inquirer whether Laviolette would be returning next season. The Flyers are 18-21-3. Laviolette (263 games) will tie Holmgren (264) for third-most games coached in Flyers history on Tuesday night against the Rangers . . . Luke Schenn played more (22:44) in two periods than he did Saturday in Buffalo (22:42). His career-high 33:56 was the third-highest total in one game for any player in the NHL this season . . . Simon Gagne was bumped to the top line and collected his sixth point in the last seven games . . . Laviolette, a Massachusetts native, said his sister attended the Boston Marathon but was unharmed. "A terrible tragedy,'' Laviolette said. The Canadiens held a moment of silence before the game for the victims of Monday's bombings.