Montreal Canadiens
Game 59 Preview: Montreal Canadiens @ Philadelphia Flyers
The Montreal Canadiens (15-35-8, 38 pts) have very little time to digest last night’s 4-3 shootout loss as they head over to face the Philadelphia Flyers (18-30-10, 46 pts) at the Wells Fargo Centre on Sunday night (7:00 PM ET, RDS, TSN2).
Both teams have had very disappointing seasons thus far, and a win tonight, after both teams suffered losses last night, will go a long way in helping to improve team morale and gain momentum heading into the end of the season. The Flyers will be aggressive in seeking a win in today’s tilt, as they spoke to the desire to write a different story in the second half of this season, and one should expect them to come out with lots of energy early on tonight.
The Montreal Canadiens will have to make a few lineup changes today, as it was announced late last night that Joel Edmundson, who returned for the Canadiens after missing the first 57 games of the season, will not dress in tonight’s game. The veteran blueliner is coming back from a nagging back injury, and team doctors would prefer he takes things slowly as he reintegrates within the lineup on a more regular basis.
With Jake Allen ruled out for this weekend, Samuel Montembeault will be playing in his second game in as many nights. So far this season, Montembeault has performed admirably for the Canadiens, posting a is 6-12-5 with a 3.63 GAA and a .897 save percentage.
Carter Hart is expected to get the start for the Flyers tonight. This season, Hart has been struggling to find consistency playing behind a very spotty defensive corps.. He has a 11-19-6 record, a 2.94 GAA, and a .912 save percentage.
Montreal Canadiens Notes
Artturi Lehkonen remains an extremely hot commodity for the Montreal Canadiens due to his play of late, posting eight points in his last six games.
Cole Caufield continues to be the Canadiens’ hottest forward right now, with 15 points in his last 13 games.
Philadelphia Flyers Notes
Cam Atkinson has recently been hot for the Flyers, posting 5 points in his last four games.
Derick Brassard has performed well in the role of top-line centre so far, posting two points in his previous two games playing next to captain Claude Giroux
Montreal Canadiens Lines:
Forwards
Cole Caufield-Nick Suzuki-Josh Anderson
Mike Hoffman – Rem Pitlick – Brendan Gallagher
Paul Byron- Jake Evans- Micheal Pezzetta
Artturi Lehkonen- Ryan Poehling-Joel-Armia
Defence:
Alexander Romanov – Ben Chiarot
Brett Kulak-Jeff Petry
Corey Schueneman-Chris Wideman
Goalies:
Samuel Montembeaul
Cayden Primeau
Philadelphia Flyers Lines:
Forwards
Claude Giroux-Derick Brassard-Cam Atkinson
Oskar Linblom-Morgan Frost-Travis Konecny
Joel Farabee-Kevin Hayes-James Van Riemsdyk
Gerald Mayhew-Patrick Brown-Zack MacEwen
Defence
Ivan Provorov-Justin Braun
Travis Sanheim-Rasmus Ristolainen
Keith Yandle-Cam York
Goalies
Carter Hart
Martin Jones