GAME PREVIEW (12:15 AM EDT)
Coming off an opening night loss in which the team played generally solid hockey for two periods, the Philadelphia Flyers (0-1-0) will look to get on the winning track when they take to the road to take on the Montreal Canadiens (0-1-0) at the Bell Centre. Game time is at 7 p.m. eastern. The match will be televised locally on CSN Philly and nationally in Canada on the CBC's Hockey Night in Canada broadcast as well as in French on RDS.
This is the first of three meetings between the teams this season and the lone contest in Montreal. The Flyers will play the Habs on Dec. 12 and Jan. 8 at the Wells Fargo Center.
A year ago, Philly took two of three in the season series with Montreal. The Canadiens grabbed a 4-1 road win in the first meeting of the season. In the second game, played in Philadelphia, the Flyers staged a 5-3 comeback win after they trailed 1-0 at the first intermission and 3-2 at the second intermission. In the final meeting of the 2012-13 season series, a Scott Hartnell hat trick and a three-point night (one goal, two assists) for Claude Giroux powered the Flyers to a 7-3 victory.
FLYERS OUTLOOK
For a team to win consistently at any level of hockey, it is not just about the final score of a game. Rather, it's about the process of getting there. The Flyers looked much better in the regular season opener in many different facets of the game. If they can play to a comparable level to the first two periods of the 3-1 loss to Toronto, the goals will come and wins will follow. If the team reverts to its form of last season and the 2013 preseason, they'll have trouble stringing together winning streaks.
Offensively, the Flyers were simply unable to capitalize on the abundance of chances they generated against the Maple Leafs for two periods. Defensively, the club played solidly for the majority of the game, but paid dearly for a turnover and a couple of coverage breakdowns in prime scoring range. Opening night goaltender Steve Mason played well enough for the team to win if he had gotten more goal support than a single tally.
The Flyers power play went just 1-for-7 in the opener, but the team's early man advantages were marked by strong puck movement and numerous good looks at the net. The team's final two power plays, which came back-to-back in the third period with the club trailing 2-1 were deflating to the team.
Last season, the Flyers had the NHL's highest combined special teams rating. It was even-strength play that was the team's Achilles heel. Likewise, the Flyers were haunted by a 4-8-0 record in the 12 games that entered the third period tied during the 48-game schedule.
Although the Flyers generally played well at even strength in the opener, they ended up getting outscored, 2-0, in five-on-five play. Additionally, Wayne Simmonds was unable to convert a penalty shot opportunity at the tail end of the second period. The third period was where the game truly got away from the Flyers.
On Saturday night in Montreal, the Flyers will look to clean up the areas that doomed them to defeat on Wednesday's game. Ray Emery is likely to get the start in goal. With the exception of a mediocre final outing, Emery played reasonably well in the preseason and is coming off a resurgent campaign last year in Chicago.
New Flyers' additions Vincent Lecavalier and Mark Streit will make their regular season road debuts for the Flyers in Saturday's game. Streit is an ex-Have while Lecavalier was rumored for several years to be on the brink of being the centerpiece of a blockbuster trade from Tampa Bay to Montreal that never happened.
The Flyers made a pair of roster moves the day after the Toronto game. The club sent 2012 first-round pick Scott Laughton back to OHL's Oshawa Generals. It also recalled agitating forward Kris Newbury from the Adirondack Phantoms.
CANADIENS OUTLOOK
On the night before the Flyers opened their season at home against Toronto, the Canadiens did the same. In a fight-filled, seesawing-momentum contest, the Habs went down to a 4-3 defeat in regulation.
Lars Eller had a pair of goals and an assist for the Canadiens, who also got a goal from Brendan Gallagher (one of last season's more prominent rookie standouts in the NHL).
Montreal goaltender Carey Price stopped 34 of 38 shots in a losing cause.
Saturday night's game at the Bell Centre will mark the first time Danny Briere will play against his former club since the Flyers bought out the final two years of his contract in the offseason. Briere, of course, has a history of scoring goals in big games and this match is no doubt one he circled on his calendar the first time he saw the Canadiens' season schedule.
The Habs' opener was marred by a concussion suffered by veteran enforcer George Parros, who face-planted to the ice during a fight with Toronto's Colton Orr. Parros had to be carted off the ice. He is out indefinitely with the concussion but the situation looked even worse than that at first.
Incidentally, Flyers defenseman Nicklas Grossmann has had just two fights in his NHL career -- one with Dallas and one last season with Philadephia -- and both times his opponent was frequent fisticuffs combatant Parros. With Parros out of the lineup, there's no chance of round three taking place on Saturday.
Montreal top-line left wing Max Pacioretty sustained an apparent wrist injury on the opener. He returned to practice on Friday and is expected to suit up against the Flyers although he is officially listed as a game-time decision.
The Canadiens enter this game with numerous other injuries that have forced coach Michel Therrien to do some lineup juggling, especially on the blueline. Defensemen Alexei Emelin (knee), Douglas Murray (upper body) and Davis Drewiske (separated shoulder) are all currently unavailable.
After Saturday's game, the Flyers head to Carolina to take on the Hurricanes on Sunday at 5 p.m. eastern. The Canadiens will be off until Wednesday, when they travel to Calgary.
PROJECTED LINEUPS (Subject to change)
FLYERS
19 Scott Hartnell - 28 Claude Giroux - 10 Brayden Schenn
24 Matt Read- 40 Vincent Lecavalier - 17 Wayne Simmonds
25 Max Talbot - 14 Sean Couturier - 93 Jakub Voracek
37 Jay Rosehill or 45 Kris Newbury - 18 Adam Hall - 36 Zac Rinaldo
44 Kimmo Timonen - 5 Braydon Coburn
32 Mark Streit - 22 Luke Schenn
8 Nicklas Grossmann - 41 Andrej Meszaros
29 Ray Emery
[35 Steve Mason]
Scratches: Jay Rosehill or Kris Newbury (healthy), Erik Gustafsson (healthy), Hal Gill (healthy).
CANADIENS
67 Max Pacioretty - 51 David Desharnais - 48 Danny Briere
17 Rene Bourque - 14 Tomas Plekanec - 21 Brian Gionta
27 Alex Galchenyuk - 81 Lars Eller - 11 Brendan Gallagher
32 Travis Moen - 53 Ryan White - 8 Brandon Prust
26 Josh Gorges - 76 P.K. Subban
79 Andrei Markov - 61 Raphael Diaz
42 Jarred Tinordi - 55 Francis Bouillon
31 Carey Price
[30 Peter Budaj]
Scratches: Nathan Beaulieu (healthy), Alexei Emelin (IR, knee surgery), Douglas Murray (IR, upper body), Davis Drewiske (IR, sprained shoulder), George Parros (concussion).
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PHANTOMS OPEN REGULAR SEASON IN HERSHEY
The Adirondack Phantoms open their 2013-14 regular season on Saturday night when they travel to Hershey, PA, to the take on the Washington Capitals-affiliated Hershey Bears. Game time is 7 p.m. eastern.
The Phantoms will carry 26 players on their opening-night roster, as there is no roster limit at the AHL level. However, head coach Terry Murray indicated to the Post Star that the number may get pared down a bit further in the days to come.
Kris Newbury had been slated prior to his recall by the Flyers to center the Phantoms' first line, flanked by Jason Akeson and Tye McGinn. Murray will now move a younger player, such as Kyle Flanagan, into that role.
Adirondack's opening night roster is as follows:
Goaltenders (2)
34 Yann Danis
35 Cal Heeter
Defensemen (8)
2 Mark Alt
5 Steven Delisle
6 Matt Konan
7 Oliver Lauridsen
20 Cullen Eddy
28 Brandon Manning
37 Bruno Gervais
44 Maxim Lamarche
Forwards (16)
8 Doug Clarkson
9 Rob Bordson
12 Michael Raffl
13 Zack FitzGerald
15 Marcel Noebels
16 Tye McGinn
18 Tyler Brown
19 Brandon Alderson
23 Ben Holmstrom
24 Petr Straka
25 Nick Cousins
26 Chris VandeVelde
27 Kyle Flanagan
29 Derek Mathers
38 Jason Akeson
57 Matt Mangene
Among the players who did not make the Phantoms' opening night roster are forward Andrew Johnston, defenseman Tyler Hostetter and goaltender Carsen Chubak. All are being sent to the ECHL's Greenville Road Warriors along with Greenville-contracted players such as Jean-Michel Rizk, Jordie Johnston, Guillaume Asselin and Lee Baldwin. The latter four were in the Phantoms training camp as tryout players.
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FLYERS PROSPECT UPDATES
* SHL: Robert Hägg and struggling Modo head on the road on Saturday to take on Örebro HK. On Thursday, Hägg was minus-one without a point in Modo's 4-3 shootout loss to Brynäs. In eight regular season games played to date, Hägg has three assists, two penalty minutes, eight shots on goal, an even plus-minus (+4, -4) and an average 16:22 of ice time. For most of the last four games, he has been on his team's third defense pairing after starting the season on the top pairing.
* KHL: Valeri Vasiliev and Spartak Moscow are the road team in a Saturday derby against Dynamo Moscow. In eight regular season games played to date, the defenseman has one assist, three shots on goal, two penalty minutes, a plus-one rating and an average 14:37 of ice time mostly on his club's third pairing.
* OHL: Playing for the second time in as many nights since being re-assigned to Oshawa, Scott Laughton had a pair of assists in the Generals' 3-2 win over Bellville on Friday night. He had two goals and two assists in a 7-1 win over Peterborough the previous night.
* OHL: Anthony Stolarz was the winning goaltender in London's 5-4 win over Windsor on Friday night. Three of the Spitfires goals came on deflections. Stolarz made 29 saves to run his season won-loss record to 4-0-0. For the campaign to date, he has a 2.25 GAA, .935 save percentage and one shutout.
* QMJHL: Samuel Morin will miss the weekend games for Rimouski as he continues to recover from a hand injury suffered in his second regular season game. He is expected to return to the ice with his teammates next week.
* WHL: Recently appointed Portland Winterhawks captain Taylor Leier scored a goal in a losing cause as his team fell, 6-2 to the Kelowna Rockets. For the season to date, Leier has three goals and seven points in six games.
* WHL: Tyrell Goulbourne had a pair of assists in Kelowna's win over Portland. For the season to date, the agitating forward has four points (all assists) and just two penalty minutes in his first five games.
* USHL: After being sidelined for the start of the season by an upper-body injury, Terrance Amorosa earned an assist in his USHL debut for the Des Moines Buccaneers. Amorosa set up the game's first goal in a 2-1 shootout win over Tri-City.
* USHL: Fredric Larsson visited the sin bin three times on minor penalties (one was a coincidental minor with an opposing player) in the Youngstown Phantoms' 4-3 loss to Cedar Rapids on Friday. Larsson was a plus-one in the game. In five regular season games to date, Larsson has not recorded a point and is minus-two with 12 penalty minutes.
* USHL: David Drake was minus-one without a point in the Des Moines Buccaneers' 4-3 win over the Lincoln Stars on Friday.
* NAHL: Merrick Madsen, who has only appeared in one game to date, served as the backup again in the Minot Minotauros' 4-0 loss to Wenatchee on Friday.
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