Coming off a 4-1 win over the Carolina Hurricanes Tuesday night, the Flyers host the Montreal Canadiens looking to continue their winning ways at home. They currently have a 5-1-1 record at home, and a 7-5-2 record overall. In addition to being hot at home, the Flyers have registered five out of a possible six points in their last three games. Facing the Canadiens is no small task, and they’re coming off of a huge win vs. Boston on Tuesday night as well.
The Habs are 8-5-2 on the season, and are tied with the Florida Panthers for the first wild card spot in the East. Montreal has been solid this season behind the play of their top six featuring Brendan Gallagher, Jonathan Drouin, Tomas Tatar, and Max Domi. Each player has 11 points or more in 15 games, giving the Habs multiple scoring options to work with.
Starting for the Flyers tonight is Carter Hart who is coming off of a spectacular performance vs. the Canes. Hart seems to be back in a rhythm after struggling for a few games after starting strong. Hart will be looking for his fifth win of the season, and his third straight.
Players to watch for
Mikhail Vorobyev — With Vorobyev getting recalled back to the Flyers, and German Rubtsov sent back to the Phantoms, he’ll look to take a permanent spot on the Flyers’ fourth line. It’s been a revolving door on that line all season, and Vorobyev will hope to fix that. He’s shown flashes of success, but nothing consistent enough to keep his job. Now, he’s back and hopes to show that consistency to stay in the NHL.
Joel Farabee — The 19-year old has two goals in his last three games, and is looking more and more confident on the top line. He’s proven already he can keep up with the NHL’s pace, and now he’s looking more than capable of handling a heavy NHL workload for a rookie.
Two big questions
1. Will Hart continue to shine?
The prodigal son is looking more like his old self game by game, and tonight it looks as though he’ll be in a duel with Carey Price. All eyes are going to be on that matchup, should Price get the call in net.
2. Will the process be better?
Against the Canes, the Flyers looked like the worse team for a good majority of the contest. The ferocious Carolina forecheck was all over the Flyers, and had them struggling to break the puck out of their own zone seemingly every chance they got. While the Habs are no slouches, it’s safe to say the Canes are a better team. The Flyers could use a “good process and win” kind of game, and there’s no better place to do that than at home.
Flyers Projected Lineup
Forwards
JVR — Giroux — Farabee
Lindblom — Couturier — Konecny
Twarynski — Hayes — Voracek
Raffl — Vorobeyv — Pitlick
Defense
Provorov — Niskanen
Gostisbehere — Braun
Sanheim — Myers
Goalie
Hart
(Elliott)
