Canadiens Game 75: Primeau Starts, Farrell Debut

The Montreal Canadiens (30-38-6) get set for a four-point Draft Lottery duel with the Philadelphia Flyers (28-32-12) on Tuesday night at the Wells Fargo Centre. The puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. ET.

After Michael Pezzetta provided the Canadiens with the shootout victory and the celebration of the season, Montreal is back in action against the Flyers.

Youth Swing

The Canadiens announced at the end of Monday night’s game that Cayden Primeau was being called up to provide the 23-year-old goaltender with some NHL games down the stretch.

He was confirmed by head coach Martin St-Louis to be starting Tuesday’s game against the Flyers, as the Canadiens want to see where he’s at with his development after a mostly uninterrupted season with the Laval Rocket.

Primeau will have his opportunity, as he gets to face the streaking Flyers in a very important matchup for both clubs; as the NHL Draft Lottery outcome of this game could be massive for both clubs.

30 secondes de Cayden qui bouge comme Michael Jackson 🔵⚪️🔴 pic.twitter.com/lJdlW7C4YA

— Marc-André Perreault (@MA_PerreaultTVA) March 28, 2023

Sean Farrell will also be making his NHL debut tonight.

The 21-year-old signed his entry-level contract on Sunday and has joined the Canadiens for the final stretch of their season.

The youngster did not participate in today’s optional skate in Philadelphia; a sign that the player could be suiting up tonight in a normal situation.

That hunch turned out to be true, as the Canadiens just announced he will be facing the Flyers.

Turnaround In Philly

It’s been a difficult season for the Philadelphia Flyers.

After losing Ryan Ellis and Sean Couturier for the season, Philadelphia also had to perform without Cam Atkinson for most of the season and now Travis Konecny down the stretch.

Change was needed, and it came with the firing of former general manager, Chuck Fletcher.

With former Canadiens forward Daniel Brière now at the helm of the Flyers organization as interim general manager, the Flyers seemingly have a new lease on life and have returned to their winning ways.

This shift toward youth has allowed youngsters like Noah Cates, Owen Tippet and Morgan Frost to rise up the ranks and show what they can do.

Tippett has been especially impressive. Coming over from the Florida Panthers in last season’s Claude Giroux trade, the young forward has found his niche with the Flyers, hitting 20 goals for the first time in his career.

Morgan Frost has also taken the next step in his development, going from fringe fourth-line player to bonafide top-9 forward this season, posting 14 goals and 22 assists for 36 points in 71 games.

Joel Farabee has also found his offensive touch, after a very disappointing first half of the season.

The 23-year-old  has four goals and three assists for seven points in his last five games and looks to have found his confidence on the ice of late, which is great news for the Flyers as they begin their rebuild.

You pre-rame report below:

Montreal Canadiens Injuries

• Kaiden Guhle (Injured Reserve)
• Joel Armia (Day-To-Day)
• Christian Dvorak (Injured Reserve)
• Josh Anderson (Injured Reserve)
• Arber Xhekaj (Injured Reserve)
• Juraj Slafkovsky (Injured Reserve)
• Cole Caufield (Injured Reserve)
• Sean Monahan (LTIR)
• Carey Price (LTIR)
• Paul Byron (LTIR)

Philadelphia Flyers Injuries

• Ryan Ellis (LTIR)
• Sean Couturier (Injured Reserve)
• Cam Atkinson (Injured Reserve)
• Travis Konecny (Injured Reserve)

Montreal Canadiens Previous Lineup

Philadelphia Flyers Projected Lineup

Farabee-Cates-Tippett

Van Riemsdyk-Hayes-Bellows

Lemieux-Frost-Allison

Deslauriers-Laughton-Braun

Defence:

Provorov-York

Sanheim-Ristolainen

Seeler-DeAngelo

Goalies:

Hart

Sandstrom

Special Teams

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