The Montreal Canadiens will finally play their last game of the season against the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday night, and a win could mean home-ice advantage.
The die is cast, and the 16 teams that will take part in the spring dance are now known. That list includes the Montreal Canadiens’ opponent tonight, the Philadelphia Flyers, who beat a watered-down version of the Carolina Hurricanes in the shootout on Monday night. Tonight’s game is therefore meaningless for Rick Tocchet’s men, who cannot hope to move up in the standings, even with a win, since the Pittsburgh Penguins are two points ahead and have 34 regulation wins to the Flyers’ 26.
Will the Flyers decide to rest some players ahead of the playoffs and on the second game of a back-to-back? It would make sense. Meanwhile, with the Buffalo Sabres’ win last night over the Chicago Blackhawks, the Atlantic Division title is now out of reach for the Canadiens, who will definitely face the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round. The best Martin St-Louis’ men can hope for is a win over the Flyers, coupled with a Bolts loss against the New York Rangers on Wednesday, which would allow them to finish second and get the all-important home-ice advantage.
The Flyers have won both games against the Canadiens so far this season, 5-4 in November and 4-1 in December. A loss tonight would make a season sweep for the Flyers, but both teams have won five of the last 10 duels between the two sides.
Neither team has confirmed who will be in the net for the game, but it will be interesting to see if Martin St-Louis decides to go back to his now-number-one, Jakub Dobes, even though Jacob Fowler won his last outing. Both goalies would give the Canadiens a chance to win, but the more Dobes plays, the better he seems to be, giving him one last game before the playoffs probably wouldn’t hurt. The Czech netminder hasn’t faced the host this season and has lost his only decision against them, and has a 6.30 goals-against average and an .800 save percentage. As for Fowler, he also has a defeat against them, but his numbers are slightly better at 3.10 GAA and a .850 SV.
At the other end of the ice, first-choice goalie Dan Vladar was on duty last night and may well get a night off since the game is meaningless for Philadelphia. Still, he has a 2-0-0 record against the Canadiens with a 2.40 GAA and a .881 SV. As for Samuel Ersson, he has a 2-3-0 record against Montreal with a 3.53 GAA and a .850 SV.
Up front, Brendan Gallagher leads all Canadiens players in points against the Flyers with 27 in 34 games, including the only hat-trick of his career back in 2019, and one has to wonder if the coach may want to give him a game after he was a healthy scratch for the last four games… With everyone healthy up front, St-Louis may want to keep experimenting with his lines. Nick Suzuki comes in second place with 16 points in 17 games, followed by Phillip Danault with 14 points in 19 games.
It’s worth noting that Lane Hutson, who needs an assist to beat Larry Robinson’s assist record, has five points in as many games against Philadelphia, including four assists. As for Cole Caufield, who needs a goal to catch up to Nathan MacKinnon, who was held off the scoresheet last night, in the race to the Rocket Richard Trophy, he has 10 points in 12 games, including six goals. However, the Colorado Avalanche still have two games to play, so MacKinnon could improve on his total if he’s not rested. Colorado takes on the Calgary Flames tonight and the Seattle Kraken on Thursday, in the very last game of the regular season. Odds seem to be stacked against Caufield in that race.
Meanwhile, Sean Couturier leads the Flyers in points against Montreal with 25 points in 36 games, including three game-winning goals. Travis Konecny is in second place with 19 points in 22 games, followed by Owen Tippett with 11 points in 14 games. It wouldn’t be shocking if the first two enjoyed a night off, given the circumstances.
The game is set for 7:00 PM, and you can catch it on NBCSP, TSN2, and RDS. Jake Brenk and Peter MacDougall are set to officiate, while Kilian McNamara and Mark Shewchyk will be the linemen.
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