Rookie Charlie Lindgren played like a seasoned NHL veteran in just his 12th career game.
The 24-year-old Lindgren stopped all 33 shots he faced as the Montreal Canadiens lost 1-0 in the shootout versus the Philadelphia Flyers on Monday. Lindgren got credit for the shutout despite the loss. It’s the second of his young career.
“He’s one of those guys who right from the get-go, he’s come in here and made saves,” said Brendan Gallagher of Lindgren. “He has a tendency of making big saves at crucial times in games to keep you in it. You appreciate that because it bails you out at times.
“Definitely a good player.”
Lindgren did what he could to keep the struggling Canadiens in the scoreless game.
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The Lakeville, Minn., native saved a Sean Couturier shot with his mask late in the first period. In the second, Oskar Lindblom charged hard to the net but the Canadiens backup stood his ground to keep the puck out. Lindgren set the tone for the third period with a nice toe save on Travis Konecny’s wrist shot.
In overtime, Lindgren made his best save of the game, stopping Flyers captain Claude Giroux on the doorstep with 20 seconds remaining in the extra frame. Giroux had a wide open net but Lindgren made a desperation dive to keep the puck out.
“That was sweet,” admitted Lindgren of his save on Giroux. “They redirected that one wide and it came back around, it was just a classic effort save. Dive and just try to get a piece of it. Luckily, I did.”
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Lindgren stood tall in the shootout until Couturier scored the winner in the sixth round for Philadelphia (34-19-10), which jumped into top spot in the Metropolitan division.
The Flyers have won six in a row, equalling their longest win streak of the season. They’ve also earned points in 12 straight games (10-0-2).
The Canadiens (23-29-10) have now lost eight of their past nine matches (1-4-4). They’ve also been shut out nine times this year, tying a franchise record.
Also earning the shutout at the other end of the rink was Petr Mrazek, who’s 3-0-0 since being traded by the Detroit Red Wings on Feb. 19. Mrazek stopped all 28 shots he faced for his fourth shutout of the year.
“We got two points tonight against a team that’s out of the playoffs, they can play loose,” said Mrazek. “It was hard for us to play them. But we stuck together and we played really well.
“Every shutout is special for a goaltender but I’d rather take the win.”
The Flyers had a few chances to end the game before the shootout.
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With Jonathan Drouin in the penalty box for tripping late in the third period, the Flyers failed to capitalize on the two-minute power play.
“It was definitely a challenging game and it made it a little bit fun,” said Konecny, who hit the post in overtime. “(Lindgren) played real good tonight. It was harder for us because we’ve never played against him. He stood on his head tonight.”
These two teams met six days ago, with Philadelphia coming out on top 3-2 in overtime. Montreal’s Carey Price suffered a concussion in that game when he took a Shayne Gostisbehere shot to the mask.
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The Canadiens and Flyers were relatively quiet before Monday’s NHL trade deadline.
Montreal shipped defenceman Joe Morrow to the Winnipeg Jets for a 2018 fourth round pick. They also picked up blue-liner Mike Reilly from the Minnesota Wild for a 2019 fifth rounder.
Philadelphia’s only move at the deadline was claiming Johnny Oduya off waivers from the Ottawa Senators.
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