Flyers knock off Canadiens as Read scores a rare goal

Matt Read had become the Forgotten Man on the Flyers.

No goals in 26 games will do that.

But the 30-year-old right winger showed a glimpse of his productive years Thursday night, sparking the Flyers' 3-1 win over the Atlantic Division-leading Montreal Canadiens at the Wells Fargo Center.

Taking a feed from Sean Couturier on the rush, Read fired a shot from the top of the right circle past Carey Price to put the Flyers ahead, 2-1, with 16 minutes, 28 seconds remaining.

"I just put my head down and swung as hard as I could," Read said.

Read conceded the goal drought was weighing on him.

"But I consider myself a religious guy and I trust the guy upstairs to give me another opportunity to score a goal, so I don't get too frustrated," he said.

"Sometimes when the puck's not going in the net, you have a tendency to shoot it less, so hopefully with one going in for him, he'll get a little bit of that shooter's instinct back," coach Dave Hakstol said.

Nick Cousins started the game-winning play, taking a hit and chipping the puck to Couturier in the middle of the ice.

"I knew it was kind of a two-on-one," Couturier said. "I could have maybe beat the guy for a breakaway, but Reader was by himself and he drove the net hard. He kept it simple. Put the puck on net and that's when you get rewarded."

It was his first goal since Nov. 3. After scoring five goals over his first five games, Read had managed just one goal in his last 33 before Thursday.

Price fell to 1-7 in his last eight appearances at the Wells Fargo Center. The Flyers are 10-0-1 against the Habs at home since the start of the 2010-11 season.

Couturier added an empty-net goal with 13.1 seconds remaining.

The Flyers started their longest homestand of the season - five games - with a hard-earned victory. They rebounded from Tuesday's dreadful 5-1 loss in Carolina and allowed Montreal only 16 shots.

It was the fewest shots for the Canadiens this season, and the fewest allowed by the Flyers in a game.

"We took care of pucks and didn't give them too many opportunities," Read said. "We played better defensively, which led to some offense."

"We definitely weren't happy with that effort Tuesday, and we kind of just focused on bouncing back and starting the homestand the right way," Couturier said.

"When you play that bad, there's only one way to go, and that's up - and I thought it started with Neuvy tonight," said Wayne Simmonds, referring to goalie Michal Neuvirth.

Shortly after Read's seventh goal of the season, Neuvirth made two big stops on Paul Byron to keep the Flyers ahead, 2-1.

Claude Giroux tied the game at 1-1 by scoring a power-play goal with 2:10 remaining in the second period.

From above the left circle, Giroux whipped a shot that deflected off the stick of defenseman Andrei Markov and off the glove of Price before trickling into the net.

"We got the momentum after that," said defenseman Mark Streit, who was paired with Nick Schultz as part of the Flyers' new-look lineup.

For the 34th time in 52 games, the Flyers allowed the first goal. This time, it was defenseman Nikita Nesterov firing a one-timer from the point past a screened Neuvirth, giving Montreal a 1-0 lead just 4:51 after the opening faceoff.

Markov sealed Jake Voracek from the puck and enabled it to get back to Alex Galchenyuk, who sent a feed to Nesterov. Nesterov was acquired from Tampa Bay last week.

But the defense tightened the rest of the way.

"From the forwards and the defenseman, it was a whole 60-[minute] team effort," Neuvirth said. "That's the way you have to play in this league, and [especially] against a good team like Montreal."

The Flyers hold the Eastern Conference's final wild-card spot.

"This is kind of our starting point to a good playoff run," Read said.

scarchidi@phillynews.com

@BroadStBull