PREVIEW: FLYERS VS. CANADIENS
Looking to halt a three-game losing streak, Dave Hakstol's Philadelphia Flyers (15-15-7) return home to host Michel Therrien's Montreal Canadiens (22-15-3). Game time at the Wells Fargo Center is 7:30 p.m. ET. The game will be televised on CSN Philadelphia.
This is the first of three meetings between the teams this season. The clubs will rematch on Feb. 2 in Philadelphia and Feb. 19 in Montreal. Last year, the Canadiens swept the season series with one shootout, one regulation and one overtime victory.
The Flyers last played on Saturday, dropping a 2-1 regulation road decision to the Los Angeles Kings. The Canadiens crushed the host Boston Bruins at the 2016 Winter Classic at Gillette Stadium on New Year's Day.
Flyers Outlook
Severely outplayed for the first 35 minutes of the game, the Flyers made a heavy push in the third period of Saturday's game in Los Angeles but were unable to find an equalizer against Jonathan Quick. Brayden Schenn's early third-period power play good stood as the Flyers' lone tally in the 2-1 loss.
Flyers goaltender Michal Neuvirth had little to no chance to stop either LA goal. The Czech netminder was outstanding in turning back 30 of 32 shots. He made numerous tough stops along the way, including a 10-bell diving save on Anze Kopitar that was one of the most spectacular saves in the NHL this season.
Special teams, particularly the penalty kill, proved to be the Flyers' undoing on their California road trip. The Flyers went just six-for-12 on the PK over the three games, and it cost them dearly. Philadelphia yielded at least one opposing power play goal in every game of the trip. In the meatime, they went 2-for-11 on the power play with a shorthanded goal yielded in the first game of the trip.
After going 10-4-4 in the 18 games leading into the Christmas break, the Flyers were in good shape to push for a playoff spot if they had a successful road trip exiting the break. Instead, they now find themselves with a mountain to climb over an unforgiving January schedule.
Hakstol made some line changes at practice on Monday. Most notably, he flip-flopped wingers for Claude Giroux and Sean Couturier. The coach was non-commital about whether he would continue to start seven defensemen and 11 forwards, as he did in Saturday's game, or he'd go back to the more customary six defensemen and 12 forwards arrangement. The coach also did not tip his hand as to whether Neuvirth or Steve Mason (who started six straight games before the LA match) will be in goal.
Matt Read sat out Saturday's game as a healthy scratch. If the Flyers go with six defensemen on Tuesday, the practice combinations on Monday suggested Evgeny Medvedev and Luke Schenn could be the two players to sit. If the Flyers go with seven defensemen, Schenn could be the odd man out against the speedy Habs.
Pointless in six of his last seven games, Giroux leads the Flyers with 12 goals, 17 assists and 29 points. He is followed by Jakub Voracek (four goals, 21 assists, 25 points), Wayne Simmonds (nine goals, 12 assists, 21 points, 82 penalty minutes), Brayden Schenn (eight goals, eight assists, 16 points). Couturier rounds out the top five with six goals, nine assists and 15 points. Offensive-minded rookie defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere had a tough road trip but has contributed six goals (four on the power play, three in overtime), eight assists and 14 points.
Canadiens Outlook
Prior to stomping the Bruins in the Winter Classic, the Canadiens endured a horrific month of December. The Canadiens are 3-7-0 over their last 10 games. After being the last undefeated team in the NHL at the start of the season, the Habs have dropped three points behind the red hot Florida Panthers in the Atlantic Division.
The Canadiens have been riddled with injuries the last couple months and is still without the services of superstar goaltender Carey Price (right knee) until mid-January. With back-to-back games on Tuesday and Wednesday (home vs. the New Jersey Devils), the Habs will split the goaltending duties between recently acquired veteran Ben Scrivens and young goalie Mike Condon. Scrivens will get the nod against the Flyers.
Up front, the Habs finally have Brendan Gallagher (10 goals, 21 points in 23 games) back in the lineup after the right winger missed more than month's worth of action due to suffering two broken fingers on his left hand. The team is without 11-goal scorer Dale Weise (right hand) and Tom Gilbert (lower body), who are on injured reserve.
Sven Andrighetto and Devante Smith-Pelly rotated into Weise's spot at the Canadiens' practice on Monday. Therrien would not disclose which one would play against the Flyers.
Max Pacioretty leads the Canadiens with 16 goals, 15 assists and 31 points. He is followed by Tomas Plekanec (eight goals, 22 assists, 30 points), defenseman P.K. Subban (one goal, team-leading 26 assists, 27 points), Alex Galchenyuk (nine goals, 17 assists, 26 points), Gallagher (10 goals, 11 assists, 21 points in 23 games) and defenseman Andrei Markov (two goals, 19 assists, 21 points).
Key team stat comparisons (NHL overall ranking)
Non-shootout goals per game: Flyers 2.11 (29th), Canadiens 2.85 (T-4th) Non-shootout goals against per game: Flyers 2.68 (T-18th), Canadiens 2.45 (12th) 5-on-5 Goals For/Against Ratio: Flyers 49/55, Canadiens 73/65 Power play efficiency: Flyers 16.4% (27th), Canadiens 18.8% (17th) Penalty killing efficiency: Flyers 77.3% (26th), Canadiens 84.8% (4th) Shots per game: Flyers 30.1 (12th), Canadiens 31.4 (4th) Shots against per game: Flyers 32.6 (29th), Canadiens 27.7 (4th) Faceoff percentage: Flyers 49.5% (22nd), Canadiens 50.9% (9th)
Projected lineups (subject to change, will be updated)
Flyers
93 Jakub Voracek - 28 Claude Giroux - 17 Wayne Simmonds 12 Michael Raffl - 14 Sean Couturier - 10 Brayden Schenn 76 Chris VandeVelde - 78 Pierre-Edouard Bellemare - 25 Ryan White [24 Matt Read] - 21 Scott Laughton - 20 R.J. Umberger
15 Michael Del Zotto - 3 Radko Gudas 55 Nick Schultz - 32 Mark Streit 53 Shayne Gostisbehere - 22 Luke Schenn
30 Michal Neuvirth [35 Steve Mason]
Scratches: Evgeny Medvedev (healthy), Luke Schenn (healthy), Vincent Lecavalier (healthy).
Canadiens
67 Max Pacioretty - 14 Tomas Plekanec - 11 Brendan Gallagher 15 Tomas Fleischmann - 51 David Desharnais - 21 Devante Smith-Pelly 43 Daniel Carr - 27 Alex Galchenyuk - 81 Lars Eller 41 Paul Byron - 17 Torrey Mitchell - 32 Brian Flynn
28 Nathan Beaulieu - 76 P.K. Subban 79 Andrei Markov - 26 Jeff Petry 74 Alexei Emelin - 45 Mark Barberio
40 Ben Scrivens [39 Mike Condon]
Scratches: Sven Andrighetto (healthy), Jarred Tinordi (healthy), Greg Pateryn (healthy), Carey Price (IR, right knee), Dale Weise (IR, right hand), Tom Gilbert (IR, lower body).