After yet another overtime thriller on Saturday night, the Montreal Canadiens will be back in action on Tuesday night when they host the Philadelphia Flyers and former Hab Christian Dvorak at the Bell Centre.
While Samuel Montembeault took a step in the right direction during Saturday night’s game, he wasn’t exactly standing on his head. With a Philadelphia team that coach Rick Tocchet has ordered to get to the front of the net, try to tip shots and disturb goaltenders, Martin St-Louis might be tempted to go back to Jakub Dobes. The rookie can be more aggressive in net and doesn’t hesitate to poke players, if need be, not unlike Ron Hextall back in the day.
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Neither goaltender has a very good record against the Flyers. Dobes has lost the only game in which he was the goaltender of record against them, and he’s got a 6.30 goals-against average and an .800 save percentage. Meanwhile, Montembeault has a 3-3-0 record against the Pennsylvania outfit with a 2.98 GAA and a .899 SV. It will be interesting to see which way the coach decides to go.
As for the Flyers, their starter hasn’t been confirmed either, but Dan Vladar has seen the lion’s share of the action so far this season, and he has never seen any action against the Canadiens. Philadelphia has two other goalies on its roster right now, Aleksei Kolosov, who has lost his only decision against Montreal with a 4.13 GAA and a .833 SV, and Samuel Ersson, who has never faced the Canadiens.
Tonight’s tilt will be the first of three between the two sides this season. The other one in Montreal is taking place in mid-December, and the sole tilt in Philadelphia is being scheduled on April 14, meaning it will be the Canadiens’ last game of the season. Obviously, the Canadiens hope they won’t be battling for a playoff spot until the very end, as they were last season, when they cut it a bit close.
The Flyers will want to keep a close eye on Brendan Gallagher tonight. The alternate captain is likely playing alongside Kirby Dach and Zach Bolduc, and he’s got 26 points in 32 games against tonight’s visitors. Philadelphia was the victim of Gallagher’s only hat trick back in 2029. Captain Nick Suzuki is also a point-per-game player when taking on Philadelphia with 15 points in 15 games. Mike Matheson rounds up the top three with 13 points in 29 games against the Flyers. Cole Caufield isn’t far behind either with nine points in just 10 tilts. Incidentally, the sniper will be playing in his 300th game; he may just want to mark the occasion.
As for the visitors, Sean Couturier is their top scorer against the Habs with 23 points in 34 games, Travis Konecny isn’t far behind with 15 points in 20 games, and Owen Tippett wraps up the top three with 10 points in just 12 games.
While the Canadiens will be trying to get a fourth straight win, the Flyers will be looking to win their first game in three matches. The Habs are currently first in the Atlantic division, while the Flyers are at the bottom of the Metropolitan. Montreal has won six of the last 10 games between the two sides, including the last one in April, 3-2. Montreal’s next game on Thursday will be against the Metropolitan-leading New Jersey Devils, who currently have 18 points, just like the Canadiens, but they have played one more game, which means the Habs are the top team in the conference and the third in the league.
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