Gameday Preview: Flyers vs. Canadiens

In the first game of their best-of-seven Eastern Conference Quarterfinals series, Alain Vigneault's top-seeded Philadelphia Flyers will take on Claude Julien's eighth-seeded Montreal Canadiens. Game time is 8:00 p.m. ET. The game will be televised on NBCSN.

The Flyers are the designated home team for Games 1 and 2 (and, if necessary, Games 5 and 7) of this season, and will have the last line change. Montreal has last change in Games 3 and 4 (and, if necessary, in Game 6).

After going 41-21-7 during the regular season, the Flyers went 3-0-0 during the round robin as they defeated the Boston Bruins (4-1), the Washington Capitals (3-1) and Tampa Bay Lightning (4-1). Although the round-robin was officially counted as postseason play for statistical purposes, this round will be the first in which elimination is at stake. If the round-robin had counted toward regular season standings, the Flyers would have leapfrogged the Capitals for first place in the Metro Division and gone into the playoffs as the No. 2 seed.

The Canadiens went 31-31-9 during the regular season. The team was 10 points below the wildcard cutoff at the time of the NHL schedule pause for the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The Canadiens got new life with the NHL/NHLPA Return to Play plan's creation of a 24-team expanded postseason. Entering as the 12th and final seed in the East, the Canadiens upset the Pittsburgh Penguins in four games during their best-of-five qualification series.

During the season series between the Flyers and Canadiens, the Flyers went 2-1-0. Each and every game was a hard-fought struggle.

Season Series in Review

Nov. 7 (H): Flyers 3 - Canadiens 2 (OT)

A Sean Couturier goal that dribbled under Carey Price's arm after using defenseman Victor Mete as a screen ended the game at 55-seconds of OT.

The ice was tilted for most of the first two periods. After an early wave of pressure by the Habs, the Flyers started to break cleanly out of their own zone, generate regular entries in the Montreal zone and set up a forecheck that created numerous Habs turnovers. However, the Flyers saw a 2-0 lead slip away. Phenomenal goaltending by Price (40 saves on 42 shots in regulation), an 0-for-6 night on the power play and a failed Carsen Twarynski penalty shot enabled the Habs to hang around and steal a regulation point they arguably did not deserve.

Phil Myers (1st) and James van Riemsdyk (4th) scored in regulation for Philly. Ben Chiarot (3rd) and Shea Weber (3rd) answered for Montreal.

"When you have a two-goal lead like that, you don’t want to squander that. Especially like you said, the shots were pretty tilted, and we were doing a lot of good things, but give them credit. They are a good team. It is not going to be easy against a team like that. It takes a full 60 and sometimes more, so we are happy to get out with the result that we did," said Flyers left winger James van Riemsdyk.

Carter Hart stopped 22 of 24 shots to earn the win. He was very busy early, and tested multiple times and then saw hardly any rubber for long stretches. The victory was his first against childhood goaltending idol Price.

Nov. 30 (A): Flyers 4 - Canadiens 3 (OT)

Ivan Provorov's spectacular end-to-end overtime goal off the rush and an excellent goaltending performance by Brian Elliott lifted a tired Philadelphia Flyers team to a 4-3 victory over the Montreal Canadiens at the Bell Centre on Saturday afternoon. The Flyers, who completed a 30-day blitz of 16 games with four games in the final five-and-a-half days of the month, ran out of energy in the final game but Elliott delivered to steal one point and Provorov delivered the second in OT. Philly finished November with an NHL-best 24 points (10-2-4).

In regulation, the Flyers trailed by scores of 1-0 and 2-1 and then held a short-lived 3-2 lead in the third period. Oskar Lindblom's deflection goal (11th) off a Justin Braun shot and Kevin Hayes' quick response (8th) off a Joel Farabee feed to Montreal's second go-ahead goal, sent the game to the second intermission knotted at 2-2. Travis Konecny (9th goal) finished off an odd-man rush on a tic-tac-toe sequence with Claude Giroux and Michael Raffl to temporarily put the Flyers ahead 3-2. Provorov's OT winner at 31 seconds into OT was his sixth goal of the season. Sean Couturier drew the lone assist.

Elliott let in an ugly goal by Joel Armia just 19 seconds into the game and then was stellar the rest of the way in making 39 saves on 42 shots. Tomas Tatar scored even strength and power play goals (8th and 9th) for Montreal. In a losing cause, Keith Kinkaid stopped 25 of 29 shots.

The Flyers went 0-for-2 on the power play and 2-for-3 on the penalty kill.

Jan. 16 (H): Canadiens 4 - Flyers 1

The Flyers lost for just the fourth time in regulation on home ice during the regular season in this 4-1 defeat at the hands of the Canadiens. The loss came on the heels of the Flyers beating the Washington Capitals and the St. Louis Blues in their previous two games. Conversely, Montreal entered the game coming off a 4-1 home decision to the Chicago Blackhawks that displeased head coach Julien both in terms of execution and competitiveness

On this night, however, the Habs were the hungrier and more opportunistic team.

Joel Farabee (4th) and Tomas Tatar (17th) traded off closely spaced goals late in the first period. Ilya Kovalchuk (power play, 5th) and Artturi Lehkonen (11th) built a 3-1 lead in the opening 2:19 of the second period. Kovalchuk scored again (6th) at 11:13 of the third period as Phillip Danault recorded his third assist.

Making his first Flyers start of the season, Alex Lyon stopped 36 of 40 shots. At the other end of the ice, Carey Price turned in a 40-save performance for the Canadiens.

The Flyers went 2-for-3 on the PK and 0-for-4 on the power play. They had some good puck movement on the power play but no finish.

"I think we had some good chances. Obviously, [Price is] a pretty good goalie. He makes a tough save look pretty easy. Again we had some chances, but obviously we could have done a lot better," Flyers captain Claude Giroux said.

Even more than the Tatar goal, the turning point of the game came over the first 2:19 of the second period. Kevin Hayes was called on a marginal -- but unnecessary on Hayes' part -- hooking infraction. Price's denial of Scott Laughton's shorthanded breakaway early in the second period and the two quick strikes by Kovalchuk and Lehkonen completely altered the outlook of the game. Philly spent the rest of the night chasing against Price, and making no scoreboard headway.

Vigneaul was asked if a "trap game" scenario worked against the Flyers on this night. He immediately -- and vehemently -- rejected that notion.

"You know that word that starts with B? These are big games. There is nothing separating teams," Vigneault said.


Flyers Outlook

The current installment of the Flyers have strong depth not only within their starting 12 forwards and six defensemen but also among players competing for a lineup spot if someone else comes out. During the round-robin phase, the Flyers' depth players outperformed their counterparts on the other side.

In the opener against Boston, the Flyers got a goal and an assist from fourth-line left winger Michael Raffl and a goal from fourth line center Nate Thompson in building a 2-0 lead. Against Washington, much of the Flyers' dominance on faceoffs came from third-line center Derek Grant going 6-for-8 on draws and Thompson going 8-for-10. In the Tampa game, Nic Aube-Kubel opened the scoring on a third-line five-on-five shift and later scored another goal on a 2-on-1. Fourth-line right winger Tyler Pitlick scored an empty-netter to seal the win against the Bolts.

Additionally, Scott Laughton racked up three goals over the first two games and the Flyers got a goal apiece from defense partners Phil Myers (against Boston) and Travis Sanheim (against Washington).

When one player exited the lineup, another stepped up in his place. Raffl's lower-body injury in the third period of the Boston game created an opening for Farabee to get into the lineup on the third line. Jakub Voracek's unavailability for the Tampa game forced Vigneault to juggle lines, and place Farabee on the top line with Sean Couturier and Claude Giroux. Farabee responded with a goal and an assist.

After the team had a complete off-day on Sunday, Voracek practiced both on Monday and Tuesday, including reps on the power play.

Officially, Voracek is a game-day decision. On Tuesday, Vigneault said that he's not at liberty to discuss player availability due to the NHL/NHLPA return-to-play rules. However, when Voracek was asked during Tuesday's post-practice media availability about his status, he declared himself ready to play.

If Voracek is a go, the Flyers will have to figure out where Farabee, James van Riemsdyk and/or Connor Bunnaman fit in for the third and fourth line left wing spots. There is also a decision to make on whether Justin Braun's partner on the third defense pairing will be Robert Hägg and Shayne Gostisbehere.

The Flyers did not get a goal in the round robin from any among Couturier, Giroux, Voracek, Kevin Hayes, Travis Konecny, Ivan Provorov or Matt Niskanen. That will need to change in the quarterfinals. Likewise, the Flyers will need to reverse their 0-for-11 performance on the power play from the round robin. The penalty kill was fine, going 9-for-10.

One of the biggest storylines heading into this series is the goaltending matchup between rising young star Carter Hart, who will turn 22 tomorrow (Aug. 13), and former Hart Trophy and Vezina Trophy winner Carey Price, who will turn 33 on Aug. 16. Price was Hart's childhood idol.

Canadiens Outlook

The Canadiens defeated the Penguins by outworking them, using their speed effectively, and playing a somewhat surprisingly physical brand of hockey. Montreal targeted Pittsburgh's third defense pairing and was able to forecheck them into mistakes.

A pair of 20-year-old former first-round picks, Nick Suzuki and Jesperi Kotkaniemi, have very high upsides and are important players for the Habs in this series. The Canadiens were able to deploy Max Domi, who posted a 78-point season last year, in a fourth-line role.

Tomas Tatar and Brendan Gallagher (whose grit and finishing touch around the net has been a frequent thorn in the Flyers' side over the years) were Montreal's only 20-goal scorers and the only players who topped 17 goals. Joel Armia, who had 16 goals and 30 points in 58 games this season, has hurt the Flyers a few times in his career. The Flyers also need to be aware of the speed of the Montreal third line, centered by Phillip Danault.

On the blueline, veteran Shea Weber had a strong resurgence in the qualification round. He played some of his best hockey since his peak years. The Habs have a strong top-four on D. Ben Chiarot played a physical series against Pittsburgh and also chipped in nine goals during the regular season. The duo of Brett Kulak and veteran Jeff Petry (11 regular season goals, two goals in the qualifiers) proved strong in their own right. Xavier Ouellet and 22-year-old Victor Mete round out the current top six.

The Canadiens' had inferior overall special teams success rates to the Flyers both on the penalty kill and the power play during the regular season. However, when the teams played each other head-to-head three times, the Habs were 11-for-11 on the PK against the Flyers and 2-for-6 on the power play.

In the qualification series against the Penguins, the Canadiens went 0-for-12 on the power play and 14-for-17 on the penalty kill.


PROJECTED LINEUPS (will be updated, subject to change)

FLYERS

28 Claude Giroux - 14 Sean Couturier - 93 Jakub Voracek
21 Scott Laughton - 13 Kevin Hayes - 11 Travis Konecny
49 Joel Farabee - 38 Derek Grant - 62 Nic Aube-Kubel
25 James van Riemsdyk- 44 Nate Thompson - 18 Tyler Pitlick

9 Ivan Provorov - 15 Matt Niskanen
6 Travis Sanheim - 5 Phil Myers
53 Shayne Gostisbehere - 61 Justin Braun

79 Carter Hart
[37 Brian Elliott]

CANADIENS

90 Tomas Tatar - 14 Nick Suzuki - 11 Brendan Gallagher
92 Jonathan Drouin - 15 Jesperi Kotkaniemi - 40 Joel Armia
62 Artturi Lehkonen - 24 Phillip Danault - 41 Paul Byron
22 Dale Weise - 13 Max Domi - 60 Alex Belzile​

8 Ben Chiarot - 6 Shea Weber
77 Brett Kulak - 26 Jeff Petry
61 Xavier Ouellet - 53 Victor Mete ​

31 Carey Price
[39 Charlie Lindgren]

Comparative Team Stats (League ranking, via NHL.com and Natural Stat Trick)

GPG: PHI 3.29 (7th), MTL 2.93 (19th)
GAA: PHI 2.77(T-7th), MTL 3.10 (T-19th)
5-on-5: PHI +18 (153-135), MTL +15 (157-142)
Power Play: PHI 20.8% (14th), MTL 17.7% (22nd)
Penalty Kill: PHI 81.8% (11th), MTL 78.7% (19th)
Special Teams Index: PHI 102.6, MTL 96.4
SHG: PHI 8 (T-6th), MTL 6 (T-10th)
SHGA: PHI 6 (T-14th), MTL 5 (T-7th)
Average Shots: PHI 31.4 (16th), MTL 34.1 (2nd)
Shots Against: PHI 28.7 (1st), MTL 31.1 (T-13th)
Corsi: PHI 51.02% (9th), MTL 54.43% (2nd)
Scoring chances: PHI 50.91% (13th), MTL 51.44% (11th)
High-danger chances: PHI 50.83% (12th), MTL 54.64% (3rd)
Expected goal differential: PHI 50.64 (14th), MTL 54.01% (2nd)
Faceoffs: PHI 54.6% (1st), MTL 50.4% (12th)

​Series Schedule

Wednesday, August 12 - 8:00 PM
Friday, August 14 - 3:00 PM
Sunday, August 16 - 8:00 PM
Tuesday, August 18 - 3:00 PM
Wednesday, August 19 – TBD*
Friday, August 21 – TBD*
Sunday, August 23 – TBD*

*if necessary

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