Flyers-Canadiens Preview

October 11th, 2014 by Kyle Lutz | Filed under Flyers, Hockey.

(AP Photo)

Who- Montreal Canadiens (2-0) at Philadelphia Flyers (0-2)
Where- Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, PA
When- 10/11, 7:00 PM EST
Starting Goalies- Carey Price (1-0) vs. Steve Mason (0-2)
Line Combinations/Defensive Pairings

LW C RW
Max Pacioretty
Max Pacioretty
David Desharnais
David Desharnais
Brendan Gallagher
Brendan Gallagher
Alex Galchenyuk
Alex Galchenyuk
Tomas Plekanec
Tomas Plekanec
Jiri Sekac
Jiri Sekac
Rene Bourque
Rene Bourque
Lars Eller
Lars Eller
P.A. Parenteau
P.A. Parenteau
Travis Moen
Travis Moen
Manny Malhotra
Manny Malhotra
Brandon Prust
Brandon Prust

Defensive Pairings
Alexei Emelin
Alexei Emelin
P.K. Subban
P.K. Subban
Andrei Markov
Andrei Markov
Tom Gilbert
Tom Gilbert
Nathan Beaulieu
Nathan Beaulieu
Mike Weaver
Mike Weaver
LW C RW
Brayden Schenn
Brayden Schenn
Claude Giroux
Claude Giroux
Jakub Voracek
Jakub Voracek
Michael Raffl
Michael Raffl
Vincent Lecavalier
Vincent Lecavalier
R.J. Umberger
R.J. Umberger
Matt Read
Matt Read
Sean Couturier
Sean Couturier
Wayne Simmonds
Wayne Simmonds
Zac Rinaldo
Zac Rinaldo
Pierre-Édouard Bellemare
Pierre-Édouard Bellemare
Jason Akeson
Jason Akeson
Defensive Pairings
Nicklas Grossmann
Nicklas Grossmann
Mark Streit
Mark Streit
Andrew MacDonald
Andrew MacDonald
Nick Schultz
Nick Schultz
Michael Del Zotto
Michael Del Zotto
Luke Schenn
Luke Schenn

The Flyers come into Saturday-night’s game vs. Montreal on a bad note, after losing two consecutive games to start the season, at Boston and vs. New Jersey; back to back. They came within 100 seconds or so of earning at least a point at Boston in the prime-time opener on Wednesday night, before falling 2-1 on a last-second tip by Boston’s Chris Kelly. Steve Mason was solid in net, however, despite the loss to the rival Bruins. He stopped 32/33 Bruins’ shots, including numerous ones on special teams, in high-pressure situations, and when the defense (consistently) broke down in their own zone.

The second game of the back to back was the total opposite; a total shootout, in the home opener. New Jersey, who, after releasing long-time goalie Martin Brodeur this past off-season, isn’t expected to fare all that well this season, absolutely terrorized Mason. Thursday night, New Jersey scored five on the Flyers’ backstop (not including a sixth goal, which was an empty netter with a minute left), on only 26 shots (meanwhile, the Flyers scored four on 39 shots). Mason probably shouldn’t of gotten the start vs. New Jersey; it being a back-to-back game, for one thing, not to mention how tough the Flyers’ schedule is to start the season and how sub-par New Jersey is. Philadelphia, after tonight, plays Anaheim, Dallas, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Detroit, Los Angeles and Tampa Bay in a 16-day span. All of those aforementioned upcoming opponents were playoff teams last year, too.

Back to tonight’s affair, Montreal beat Toronto and Washington, two non-playoff teams last year, their first-two games this season thus far, outscoring the two 6-4, combined. Montreal only ranked 21st in the league in scoring last year (215 goals for; 2.6/game), however, so look for it to be a low-scoring affair between the two, similar to the opener vs. Boston.

Flyers’ top-pairing defenseman Braydon Coburn sustained a lower-body injury in the opener at Boston, thus he missed and was replaced by Nick Schultz in the previous game vs. New Jersey, and will miss a few games. Flyers’ GM Ron Hextall said he was “optimistic” Coburn would be able to return when the Flyers open a three-game road trip in Dallas next Saturday. If that occurs, he would only miss a few games in that time span. Coburn will be re-examined by team doctors on Monday, to further evaluate the injury and his timetable for return. Schultz produced a solid effort in Coburn’s absence, compiling a shot and a hit each, and not turning the puck over a single time in 14:46 minutes of ice time. The loss of Coburn adds fuel to the fire, despite it being (for now) a short-term injury, with the Kimmo Timonen, indefinite, blood-clot injury sustained prior to the season. 

Philadelphia is now 0-2, to start the regular season, for the third consecutive year now. Last season, after a 0-3 start, Philadelphia fired head coach Peter Laviolette. Philadelphia, especially considering how tight-knit their division is and how tough the competition’ll be coming up, can ill-afford to lose another one, at least without earning a point to stay afloat. Claude Giroux had a solid game vs. New Jersey, registering a goal and an assist each, seven shots on goal, two takeaways and a 57% face-off win percentage, albeit being a -4 on the night (mostly due to being a byproduct, along with Steve Mason and co, of the Flyers’ horrendous defense). Giroux, in three games vs. Montreal last season, was a +3 and had a goal and an assist each.

For the Flyers to win, they’ll need to not only play better in their own zone defensively but play an overall better defensive game than they’ve been playing thus far, to date. Montreal’ll quickly turn mistakes/turnovers and bad penalties into goals, thus Zac Rinaldo has to play smart and not retaliate, like he did in the first period at Boston, in terms of getting a penalty. Good news for the Flyers, Montreal was only ranked 19th last year in power-play %, at 17.2% (Philadelphia was ranked seventh, at 19.8%), while Philadelphia was ranked second best last year in times shorthanded, at 316, four behind number-one Ottawa’s 320.

The Flyers this season are looking at some new, including some new-old, faces, with the re-addition of right-winger R.J. Umberger, who’s played well thus far; as has his whole line. Umber was acquired via a late-June trade from Columbus to Philly, in exchange for fellow forward Scott Hartnell. In addition to the Umberger move, this past off-season the Flyers acquired, from overseas, French free-agent Pierre-Édouard Bellemare. He’s a low-risk, high-reward, player, at a minimal cost and with lots of upside. He’s a speedy forward that can play on any of the latter two lines, as well as kill penalties and play defense. Former Rangers’ defenseman Michael Del Zotto was acquired as well, to sure up the back end of the defense.

Montreal, meanwhile, this past off-season traded former Flyer (and Montreal native) Danny Briere for former Avs’ winger P.A. Parenteau, who had 33 points, in only 55 games, last year. Additionally, they signed former Canes’ fourth-line center Manny Maholtra and Czechoslovakian forward Jiri Sekac.

Mason is a career 30 vs. Montreal, with a .935 save %, while Habs’ netminder Carey Price is only a career 5-9 vs. Philadelphia.

Keys to the Game

-Control your defensive-zone turnovers, and play solid backchecking
-Get the top line going early
-Mason; control rebounds

Player of the Game Prediction- Brayden Schenn
Game Prediction- 3-2 Habs in the shoot-out

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