Canadiens Game 58: Guhle Approaching Return, New Pairings

The Montreal Canadiens (24-29-4) visit the Philadelphia Flyers (23-26-10 ) on Friday night. The puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET.

Philadelphia is currently four points ahead of the Canadiens in the overall standings, with two games in hand. They’re coming off a 4-2 loss on Tuesday against Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers, and have a 3-5-2 record over their last 10 games.

Travis Konecny is currently their hottest scorer with three goals and two assists in the last five games, but he won’t feature in Friday’s matchup against the Canadiens due to an injury.

No Travis Konecny yet at practice today. We'll be speaking with Tortorella momentarily to ask for an update on his status.

— Charlie O'Connor (@charlieo_conn) February 24, 2023

Carter Hart will start for the Flyers, whereas Jake Allen is going to guard the net for the Canadiens.

Christian Dvorak is currently the Canadiens’ hottest forward with five points in his last five games, although Jonathan Drouin also ranks among the top forwards, with five assists in the same span.

As a reminder, the Canadiens may not have a legitimate chance to finish last this season, but they’re still very much in the running for a great draft pick this summer, despite beating the high-flying New Jersey Devils on Tuesday night.

Newcomer Chris Tierney was recently claimed on waivers due to the laundry list of injuries for the Habs and has chosen No.67 for his jersey since No.71 is currently assigned to Jake Evans.

Tierney will play on the fourth line alongside Michael Pezzetta and Alex Belzile, whereas Jesse Ylonen received a promotion to the third line to replace Joel Armia, who is currently day-to-day.

Canadiens fans should not expect to see Kirby Dach in the lineup in the near future. His non-covid illness progressed to a lower-body injury.

There was some rare positive news on the health front, as defenceman Kaiden Guhle was spotted at practice with a regular jersey.

Des images de Guhle en rouge. pic.twitter.com/MohQgjZwU4

— Jonathan Bernier (@JBernierJDM) February 24, 2023

As for the defensive pairings, Justin Barron returns to the top pair alongside Mike Matheson, whereas Jordan Harris and Johnathan Kovacevic, the Canadiens’ most reliable pairing, were reunited. Corey Schuneman will play with David Savard on the second pairing.

Montreal Canadiens Injuries

• Chris Wideman (Week-To-Week)
• Joel Armia (Day-To-Day)
• Kaiden Guhle (Injured Reserve)
• Joel Edmundson (Day-To-Day)
• Kirby Dach (Illness)
• Brendan Gallagher (Injured Reserve)
• Jake Evans (Injured Reserve)
• Arber Xhekaj (Injured, No Update)
• Juraj Slafkovsky (Injured Reserve)
• Cole Caufield (Injured Reserve)
• Sean Monahan (LTIR)
• Carey Price (LTIR)
• Paul Byron (LTIR)

Philadelphia Flyers Injuries

• Sean Couturier (Injured Reserve)
• Travis Konecny (Day-To-Day)
• Zack MacEwen (Injured Reserve)
• Ryan Ellis (Injured Reserve)
• Tanner Laczynski (Injured Reserve)
• Cam Atkinson (Injured Reserve)

Montreal Canadiens Previous Lineup

Philadelphia Flyers Projected Lineup

Laughton – Cates – Allison

Van Riemsdyk – Frost – Tippett

Lycksell – Hayes – Farabee

Deslauriers – Brown – Bellows

Defence:

Provorov – Sanheim

York – Ristolainen

Seller – Deangelo

Goalies:

Hart

Sandstrom

Special Teams

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