Flyers

Flyers-Canadiens: Game 52 Preview

By
Bill Minchin
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Bill Minchin Sports Editor

All posts by Bill Minchin
Sports Editor

Published02 Feb 2017

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1-26-2017_FlyersvsLeafs_1st_credKateFrese-20

(Kate Frese/Sports Talk Philly)

By Bill Minchin, Sports Talk Philly writer

The Philadelphia Flyers (25-20-6) return home Thursday night to host the Atlantic Division leading Montreal Canadiens (30-14-7). This is the third and final meeting between the Eastern Conference foes and the lone game in Philadelphia. Opening faceoff is set for 7:00.

The Canadiens are coming off a 5-2 victory over the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday in their first game back from the All Star break while the Flyers look to recover from a humiliating 5-1 loss in Carolina on that same night.

Tonight is also the final Heritage Night of the 50th anniversary season. Throughout the game the team will be honoring it's captains.

 
Flyers Leaders GP G A P Canadiens Leaders GP G A P
Jake Voracek 51 14 31 45 Max Pacioretty 51 24 18 42
Claude Giroux 51 11 29 40 Alexander Radulov 49 12 27 39
Wayne Simmonds 51 21 17 38 Shea Weber 51 12 19 31
Brayden Schenn 48 16 18 34 Paul Byron 50 14 15 29
Travis Konecny 50 7 15 22 Alex Galchenyuk 30 11 16 27
 
 
Player to Watch
12 Michael Raffl 6 Shea Weber
Last 5 Games: 0 G, 0 A, 0 P, -2 Last 5 Games: 2 G, 1 A, 3 P, Even
 
 

Michael Raffl is cold right now, REAL COLD. The Flyers winger has not registered a point since he scored in game back on January 7th against Tampa Bay. The Flyers have had a revolving door at the left wing spot on Claude Giroux's line ever since the departure of Scott Hartnell. Raffl has the trust of coach Hakstol but he needs to start producing more consistently to take the pressure off of the rest of the top players if the Flyers are to make the playoffs.

 
Shea Weber leads the Canadiens defense corps in points and the entire team in plus/minus at +19. Weber is once again being Weber. He draws the toughest assignments yet continues to produce both in his own end and on the score sheet. He will no doubt make it tough for Philadelphia again tonight.
 

 

Goalie Matchup
30 Michal Neuvirth

31 Carey Price
7-4-0, 3.17 GAA, .885 SV% 23-10-5, 2.34 GAA, .922 SV%

Michal Neuvirth gets the start in goals for the Flyers, his first start since last Thursday's win over Toronto. Since returning from injury, Neuvirth has appeared in six games — including twice in relief — and posted a 3-2-0 record while allowing nine goals on 136 shots.

Carey Price will get the nod for the Canadiens. Price's number are not quite what they were a few years back when he won both the Vezina and the Hart trophy. That being said, Price is still arguably the best netminder in the NHL. He has faced the Flyers twice this season with mixed results. In the two games he has allowed five total goals however the did get four by him in the latter meeting.

Flyers Projected Lineup

Scratches: Travis Konecny, Shayne Gostisbehere, Micheal Del Zotto

Left Wing Center Right Wing
12 Michael Raffl 28 Claude Giroux 93 Jakub Voracek
22 Dale Weise 10 Brayden Schenn 17 Wayne Simmonds
25 Nick Cousins 14 Sean Couturier 24 Matt Read
76 Chris VandeVelde 78 Pierre-Edouard Bellemare 13 Roman Lyubimov
Defense    
9 Ivan Provorov 47 Andrew MacDonald  
32 Mark Streit 3 Radko Gudas  
23 Brandon Manning 55 Nick Schultz  
Goalie    
30 Michal Neuvirth    

Game Notes

  • Power Play: Flyers (9th, 8th at home), Canadiens (3rd, 2nd on the road)
  • Penalty Kill: Flyers (19th, 11th at home), Canadiens (23rd, 27th on the road) 
  • Brayden Schenn picked up his 100th NHL goal in Tuesday's loss in Carolina
  • Recent History vs. Montreal
    • 10/24/16: After a scoreless first period the Canadiens got an early second period lead on a goal by Shea Weber. Jakub Voracek tied the score at 1-1 before the end of the period. Brendan Gallagher would put Montreal ahead for good with a power play goal at 13:08 of the third and Alexander Radulov added an empty netter for a 3-1 Canadiens victory. Carey Price made 31 saves in the win.
    • 11/5/16: The Flyers showed Price was not immortal. Philadelphia managed to get four goals in on the All Star netminder but it would prove to be not enough. The Canadiens got five goals from five different players including a short handed goal from Thomas Plekanec en route to a 5-4 victory at the Bell Centre. Despite allowing four goals, Price was still solid making 34 saves to pick up the win. Michal Neuvirth on the other hand allowed five goals on 17 shots for the loss.

Where to Watch
TV: CSN
Radio: 93.3 WMMR