he Canadiens shut it down in the third period and outshot Pittsburgh 14-3. Hudon scored on a wraparound midway through the period.“(Pittsburgh) is a potent offensive team and we respected their offense,” Canadiens’ coach Claude Julien said. “For us to close the game was important because we took the g

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The vendor at the Flyers merchandise kiosk on the main concourse scrolled through his phone as disinterested fans breezed by the $70 Stadium Series sweatshirts and $250 jerseys that suddenly seem as unwanted as a face value ticket. Shortly before faceoff Jake Guentzel Jersey Kids , customers! A Flyers fan stops by and spends $5.39 on a foam finger that is supposed to convey the home team is No. 1.At least one Flyers fan in the stands had a different digit in mind.The scoreboard cameras caught a man in the first period flipping Gritty the bird.Yes, even the beloved Flyers furball can’t escape the wrath of agitated fans in what has become one of the biggest debacles in franchise history. The only part of the season more surprising than the unexpected popularity of their rookie mascot has been the dizzying dip in the standings from a year ago. The Flyers crashed from a 98-point team that made the playoffs to the one of the worst teams in the NHL; they fired the coach, the general manager and play in front of a half-empty Wells Fargo Center where tickets bottomed out at $9 a pop on StubHub on Wednesday.Hey, for a night, the discounted ducats were worth the price — the Flyers snapped an eight-game losing streak with a 2-1 win over Dallas.But the win was just a rare respite for a franchise barreling toward the Feb. 25 trade deadline on the brink of another shakeup. The suit and tie guys are gone. General manager Chuck Fletcher was hired in November to replace Ron Hextall, who could not turn the Flyers into contenders after 4½ seasons, and he promptly fired coach Dave Hakstol after three-plus seasons without a playoff series win. Interim coach Scott Gordon is 4-7-2 in his brief tenure.That leaves the aging veterans in the orange-and-black sweaters, and perhaps some of the newer faces, on the market as Fletcher decides if the time is now for a full-blown roster revamp. Former All-Star forward Wayne Simmonds is in the last year of his contract and could be traded before the Flyers lose him for nothing. Simmonds, who has only 19 points this season, is perhaps the most important voice in the locker room and losing his leadership would hurt the Flyers as much as his point production. Just 30, Simmonds could be packaged for prospects and picks to a contender before he hits free agency.“Right now, you definitely can’t look at the big picture http://www.officialpenguinsproshop.com/authentic-adidas-justin-schultz-jersey ,” Simmonds said. “Obviously, the big picture doesn’t look good, so you’ve got to start small and we’ve got to start making strides from there.”Hextall’s inability to turn things around was among the reasons he was unexpectedly dismissed Nov. 26. Philadelphia hasn’t won the Stanley Cup since 1975 and was ready to try to contend after several years of retooling.They instead enter Saturday’s game at New Jersey sitting 30th in the NHL standings at 16-22-6 (38 points).How did it get this bad?— Start in net. The Flyers tied an NHL record this week with Mike McKenna becoming their seventh goaltender to play this season. The Flyers became the fourth team in league history to hit that ignominious milestone and reached it in just 43 games. The Flyers banked on Brian Elliott and Michal Neuvirth to man the pipes while top prospect Carter Hart gained experience in the minors. Elliott and Neuvirth have been injured most of the season and patchwork effort was a bust, forcing the Flyers to call up Hart (3-4-1) last month to steady the team.— The farm system had failed to produce stars after a string of bad drafts last decade and expected cornerstones such as Nolan Patrick (No. 2 pick of 2017 draft; 22 games without a goal), and defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere and Ivan Provorov have yielded inconsistent results instead of serving as significant keys to a rebuild.— The vets have disappeared. Claude Giroux, the last holdover from the 2010 Stanley Cup final team, is again an All-Star. But Simmonds, Jake Voracek, van Riemsdyk and Sean Couturier have been hit by injury and inconsistency.“When times do get tough, it’s what’s in our locker room that really matters and what really counts,” Hart said.The 20-year-old Hart will be the anchor and has been an instant fan favorite. He’s been recognized a couple of times in public — he had to smile recounting a photo he took with an employee at a local Lululemon — but otherwise blends in like any other young kid walking a mall.The Flyers have averaged more than 19,000 fans a game each season since 1996 but the crowd has thinned and ticket prices have hit rock bottom at the same time a $250 million renovation is underway at the Wells Fargo Center. It hasn’t helped that the 76ers, a fellow tenant Kris Letang Jersey , pack the place every night.“The winning side of it is a lot more fun than the losing side of it, but we can only deal with the circumstances that we have and right now,” Gordon said.Gritty has provided the Flyers a mainstream buzz they would have missed had it not been for his burst of supersized jersey full of fun.Gritty kicked a field goal at a recent home loss blindfolded both in a nod to “Bird Box” and a shot at Chicago Bears kicker Cody Parkey. Flyers fans saved their loudest cheers for the skit and accompanying Eagles highlights.Once play resumed, they could have used the blindfold. PITTSBURGH (AP) — The Montreal Canadiens used a systematic approach to frustrate and shut down the Pittsburgh Penguins‘ star-studded attack.Paul Byron scored two goals and added an assist, leading the Canadiens to a 5-1 victory over the Penguins on Saturday night.“Our plan was just to skate and forecheck relentlessly,” Byron said. “When you give (the Penguins) space to skate, they’re going to make plays all night. But when you close lanes, I think that makes it hard for them.”The Canadiens opened the season with three of four possible points in two road games against Toronto and Pittsburgh. Byron contributed Saturday with his first multi-goal game since scoring a hat trick last December against Detroit.Brendan Gallagher, Joel Armia and Charles Hudon also scored for the Canadiens, who snapped a five-game losing streak against Pittsburgh. It was Montreal’s first win against Pittsburgh since Al Montoya’s 36-save shutout Oct. 18, 2016.Carey Price made 21 saves on Saturday for his first win against Pittsburgh since Oct. 13, 2015. Price had plenty of help as the Canadiens blocked 22 shots, one more than he faced.“It’s definitely huge to get those blocks Mario Lemieux Jersey ,” Price said. “A couple of them, especially in the first period, could’ve been a game-changer.”Riley Sheahan scored for Pittsburgh, which lamented its puck management during a wild season-opening 7-6 overtime win against Washington on Thursday.Kris Letang, a Montreal native, had an assist and passed Hall of Famer Paul Coffey for most points in team history by a defenseman with 441. Matt Murray, who has allowed 11 goals in two games, made 24 saves in the loss.“I think we’re a team right now that just wants to score instead of playing the game the right way and that means playing on both sides of the puck,” Penguins’ coach Mike Sullivan said. “Right now, we’re not even close to where we need to be. I know we have a talented group and I know we can score. Until we learn how to play defense and become harder to play against, we’re not going to control outcomes.”Last season, Pittsburgh scored five goals in each of its three games against Montreal. The Canadiens returned the favor with a five-goal outburst Saturday. The teams will meet again next Saturday in Montreal.“It’s obviously concerning,” Sullivan said. “You don’t ever want to get outworked. I thought they played harder and smarter. They were hard to play against.”Gallagher scored the game’s first goal midway through the opening period. Tomas Tatar’s initial shot off the rush hit Penguins’ defenseman Olli Maatta and bounced to Gallagher Matt Murray Jersey , who converted the 2-on-1.Byron’s breakaway goal gave the Canadiens a 2-0 lead later in the period. He beat Maatta at the blue line and tucked a backhand-forehand deke between Murray’s outstretched pad and the post.Byron scored his second goal just 3:43 into the second period. Max Domi chipped the puck from behind the goal to Byron, who flipped a shot past Murray.Byron had the primary assist on a short-handed goal later in the period to make it a 4-0 game. Armia finished the 2-on-1 pass from Byron with a backhand chip behind Murray.“If they would’ve scored a power-play goal, it would’ve made it 3-1 and could’ve made it a completely different game,” Byron said. “To get that fourth one, and take a little bit of wind out of the crowd, certainly helped us.”The Canadiens shut it down in the third period and outshot Pittsburgh 14-3. Hudon scored on a wraparound midway through the period.“(Pittsburgh) is a potent offensive team and we respected their offense,” Canadiens’ coach Claude Julien said. “For us to close the game was important because we took the game to them.”NOTES: The Canadiens scratched 35-year-old center Tomas Plekanec and 30-year-old defenseman Karl Alzner for the second straight game. Alzner played 622 consecutive games before he was scratched Wednesday against Toronto. . D Juuso Riikola, C Derek Grant and D Chad Ruhwedel were all scratched for Pittsburgh.UP NEXTCanadiens: Host Los Angeles on Thursday in their home opener.Penguins: Welcome Vegas on Thursday.