Flyers-Canadiens: Game 48 Preview

Flyers Leaders	GP	G	A	P	Canadiens Leaders	GP	G	A	P
Claude Giroux	47	14	25	39	P.K. Subban	50	4	33	37
Jake Voracek	47	8	28	36	Max Pacioretty	50	19	17	36
Wayne Simmonds	47	14	15	29	Tomas Plekanec	50	9	25	34
Brayden Schenn	45	12	14	26	Alex Galchenyuk	50	11	17	28
Sean Couturier	38	9	13	22	Brendan Gallagher	33	12	14	26

 

Player to Watch
93 Jake Voracek	76 P.K. Subban
Last 5 Games: 3 G, 3 A, 6 P, +2	Last 5 Games: 1 G, 5 A, 6 P, -6

 

Jake Voracek seems to have turned a corner with his two-goal performance, entering the All-Star break with confidence after his highlight-reel game-winning goal in Washington last Wednesday. He's been among the Flyers best in the last few weeks and will look to pick up where he left off.

 

P.K. Subban has been the constant for the Canadiens, who in particular have struggled with scoring of late, averaging two goals per game in their last five games. Subban has six points in his last five games, but is also a minus-6 in that time, which is telling since he was a plus-12 on the season as of Jan. 17.

 

Goalie Matchup
35 Steve Mason	39 Mike Condon
10-12-6, 2.72 GAA, .914 SV%	13-13-4, 2.45 GAA, .904 SV%

Steve Mason makes his first start since Jan. 21 in Pittsburgh where he suffered a 4-3 loss. Mason battled a lingering injury leading into the All-Star break, but will return between the pipes for the Flyers with Michal Neuvirth also battling an injury that forced him to leave Monday's practice. Mason's last win came on Jan. 13 against Boston. 

It's been a struggle of late for Mike Condon as well. He earned wins in back-to-back starts on Jan. 1 and 6, but since then has lost five of six games, allowing three goals or more in three of his last four starts. 

Flyers Projected Lineup

Scratches: Jordan Weal, R.J. Umberger, Brandon Manning, Michal Neuvirth

Left Wing	Center	Right Wing
93 Jake Voracek	28 Claude Giroux	17 Wayne Simmonds
89 Sam Gagner	14 Sean Couturier	10 Brayden Schenn
76 Chris VandeVelde	78 Pierre-Edouard Bellemare	25 Ryan White
12 Michael Raffl	21 Scott Laughton	24 Matt Read
Defense
15 Michael Del Zotto	53 Shayne Gostisbehere
55 Nick Schultz	32 Mark Streit
82 Evgeny Medvedev	3 Radko Gudas
Goalie
35 Steve Mason

The Flyers only injury of note is to Michal Neuvirth, out with a lower-body injury. Anthony Stolarz is on the bench in the backup role. R.J. Umberger exits the lineup as a healthy scratch after a 50-game goalless drought. Sam Gagner remains in the lineup while Sean Couturier makes his return. Both will play on the second line with Brayden Schenn while Michael Raffl, who previously was their linemate, drops to the fourth line with Matt Read and Scott Laughton. Evgeny Medvedev also comes back into the lineup for Brandon Manning.

Game Notes

• Power Play: Flyers (T-21st, 27th at home), Canadiens (T-21st, 19th on road)
• Penalty Kill: Flyers (26th, 25th at home), Canadiens (6th, T-13th on road) 
• Recent History vs. Canadiens
  • Jan. 5, 2016 - The Flyers grabbed a 4-3 win over the Canadiens on home ice. Brayden Schenn, Shayne Gostisbehere, Wayne Simmonds and Sean Couturier all collected goals in the win while Michal Neuvirth made 21 saves. Alex Galchenyuk, Brendan Gallagher and Daniel Carr all scored for the Canadiens while Ben Scrivens made 27 saves. 
  • Feb. 10, 2015 – The Flyers fell to the Canadiens, 2-1, in overtime in Montreal. Matt Read scored 51 seconds into the game to give the Flyers a lead that held all the way until the third when with 7:22 to play, Tomas Plekanec tied the game. David Desharnais scored at 3:27 of overtime to give Montreal the win.
  • Nov. 15, 2014 – The Flyers suffered a 6-3 loss to the Canadiens in Montreal. P.A. Parenteau and Dale Weise each scored two goals while P.K. Subban and David Desharnais added goals for Montreal. Brayden Schenn scored two goals and Matt Read added a power-play goal.
  • Oct. 11, 2014 – The Flyers fell to the Canadiens, 4-3, in a shootout at home. The Flyers opened a 3-0 lead on first-period goals by Michael Raffl and Wayne Simmonds and an early second-period tally by Simmonds just 55 seconds into the period. Montreal rallied for three third-period goals in 7:35 by Andrei Markov, Tomas Plekanec and Alex Galchenyuk to force overtime. P.A. Parenteau scored the only goal of the shootout in the fourth round to seal the win for Montreal.
• Flyers leaders vs. Canadiens
• Jake Voracek – 17 games, 3 goals, 13 assists, 16 points
• Brayden Schenn – 12 games, 3 goals, 8 assists, 11 poinrs
• Michael Raffl – 4 games, 3 goals, 0 assists, 3 points
• Steve Mason - 3 games, 3-0-0, 1.62 GAA, .936 SV%
• Milestone Watch
  • Mark Streit: 5 points to reach 400 for career
  • Jake Voracek: 7 goals to reach 100 as a Flyer

Where to Watch
TV: CSN
Radio: 97.5 The Fanatic

Kevin Durso is managing editor for Flyerdelphia. Follow him on Twitter @Kevin_Durso.