UPDATE 11:53 AM EDT (3/24/12)
Andreas Lilja was not at the morning skate today. The club has recalled Erik Gustafsson from the Phantoms, and paired at practice with Pavel Kubina. Ilya Bryzgalov will start in net.
Montreal, as expected, is not holding a morning skate after playing last night. It has been confirmed, however, that Peter Budaj will start in goal tonight for the Habs.
Lineups are updated below.
PREVIEW 11:45 PM EDT (3/23/12)
Looking to cement a spot in the 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Philadelphia Flyers (43-23-8) continue their five-game homestand at the Wells Fargo Center with a game against the Montreal Canadiens (29-33-13). The game starts at 7 p.m. EDT and will be broadcast locally on CSN Philly.
This is the fourth and final meeting of the season between the teams. The Flyers have won two of the first three games, but they haven't been easy by any means.
In late October, Montreal took the first game, 5-1, after the Flyers got off to a quick start and then fell apart from late in the first period onward. They next met in the annual Black Friday matinee at the Wells Fargo Center. Philly trailed, 1-0, after the first period but a two-goal outburst by Claude Giroux turned the game around and the Flyers went on to win, 3-1. On Dec. 15, the Flyers (amidst a season-best seven-game winning streak and on the same day it was learned that Chris Pronger was lost for the season and playoffs), the Flyers prevailed in a seesaw 4-3 affair.
As has been much documented of late, the Flyers have had a problem with falling behind early in games (they've given up the first goal in 15 of the last 20 games) but the resurgent goaltending and team defense have enabled the club to stay close and go on to win quite a few low-scoring games. The team will try once again to put it all together. Overall, the Flyers are a solid 7-2-1 in their last 10 games.
Montreal really doesn't have much to play for but salvaging some pride at this point. The club is in the cellar of the Eastern Conference, hopelessly out of the playoff race. Major chances are expected as soon as the season is over. However, the Habs are coming off a 5-1 thumping of the suddenly struggling Ottawa Senators last night. Overall, the Habs are 4-3-3 in their last 10 games.
Last night, Erik Cole scored a natural hat trick for Montreal, hitting the 30-goal plateau on the season to join Max Pacioretty as the first pair of Canadiens to hit the 30-goal mark in the same season since 1995-96. Petteri Nokelainen and Lars Eller scored the other two goals for Montreal. Carey Price made 37 saves for the victory.
With Price playing last night, there is a good chance that Peter Budaj will make just his 13th appearance of the regular season. The Flyers took a complete off day yesterday after Thursday's 2-1 shootout win over the Capitals.
As far as can be determined, the injury list for the Flyers remains the same, and they will dress the same lineup and line combinations they featured on Thursday. There's a chance Sergei Bobrovsky could start either this game or Monday's match with Tampa Bay, although the club will have two off days thereafter.
Montreal will be without Brian Gionta (surgery to repair torn bicep), Scott Gomez (concussion), Travis Moen (upper body), and Mathieu Darche (upper body), all of whom are on injured reserve. Defenseman Tomas Kaberle is questionable with an upper body injury. The Flyers are without James van Riemsdyk (foot surgery) and Andrej Meszaros (back surgery) until some point in the playoffs.
In the season series with Montreal to date, Pacioretty leads all players on both sides with two goals and five points in the three games. Matt Carle (five assists) tops the Philadelphia scoring list.
PROJECTED LINEUPS (subject to change)
FLYERS
Hartnell - Giroux - Jagr
Schenn - Briere - Simmonds
Read - Talbot - Voracek
Wellwood - Couturier - Rinaldo
Carle - Timonen
Grossmann - Coburn
Gustafsson - Kubina
Bryzgalov
[Bobrovsky]
CANADIENS
Pacioretty - Desharnais - Cole
Eller - Plekanec - Bourque
Blunden - White - Leblanc
Staubitz - Nokelainen - Palushaj
Gorges - Subban
Emelin - Markov
Campoli - Weber
Budaj
[Price]
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