Canadiens Pre Game
Canadiens Preview & Lines: Jakub Dobes Starts Vs. Philadelphia
The Montreal Canadiens (33-28-9) are set to play the Philadelphia Flyers (28-36-9), with the puck drop scheduled for 7 pm ET.
This is a perfect opportunity for the Habs to build a little momentum. The Flyers have struggled mightily, as evidenced by their 1-8-1 record in the last 10 games. With that in mind, they fired their head coach, the oft-maligned John Tortorella. With all due respect to Tortorella’s track record, it’s far from surprising. His old school method of coaching has not achieved any semblance of success in the last five years.
OFFICIAL: The Flyers have relieved John Tortorella of his duties as head coach. Philadelphia Flyers Associate Coach, Brad Shaw, has been named interim head coach and will assume duties immediately. https://t.co/qJuAybRMFT pic.twitter.com/saaH0u62lT
— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) March 27, 2025
If the Canadiens hope to make the playoffs, beating lowly teams is a necessity. They’re still considered the favourite team to qualify for the final Eastern Conference Wild Card spot, but there’s almost no margin for error left due to their lack of wins in the last three matchups.
Netminder Samuel Montembeault will finally receive a break, which means rookie netminder Jakub Dobes is set to start. Dobes did play the final 9 minutes of the frustrating 6-1 loss to the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday, and that will hopefully help with some of the rust that has surely accumulated, given the 23-year-old netminder but hasn’t started a game since March 12.
If Canadiens do end up making the playoffs, they’ll want Montembeault to be well rested. And if he falters, they’ll want Dobes to be able to step in without being ice-cold due to a lack of game play.
ON TOPIC: NHL Playoffs: 5 Things Canadiens Must Do To Qualify For Playoffs
Kaiden Guhle joined the Canadiens on their road trip, but there’s no word on when he’ll actually re-enter the lineup. The Habs have won a reasonable number of games in Guhle’s absence, and the Lane Hutson – Jayden Struble pairing has thrived, but things haven’t gone according to plan for Alexandre Carrier and Mike Matheson, the duo that has absorbed most of Guhle’s minutes.
Former Hab Ryan Poehling is enjoying a renewed sense of value since arriving in Philadelphia. The 26-year-old scored 11 goals and 16 assists last year, and is currently serving as the Flyers’ third-line centre, with eight goals and 13 assists to his credit this season.
The other former Canadiens player, Nicolas Deslauriers, has only played in 23 games this year, but he’s still one of the hardest hitting players in the league, which means we may end up seeing a rematch with Canadiens defenceman Arber Xhekaj.
Montreal Canadiens Projected Lineup
| Cole Caufield | Nick Suzuki | Juraj Slafkovsky |
| *Joshua Roy* | Alex Newhook | Patrik Laine |
| Brendan Gallagher | Christian Dvorak | Josh Anderson |
| Emil Heineman | Jake Evans | Joel Armia |
| Mike Matheson | Alexandre Carrier |
| Jayden Struble | Lane Hutson |
| Arber Xhekaj | David Savard |
| *Kaiden Guhle* |
| Samuel Montembeault |
| Jakub Dobes |
Philadelphia Flyers Projected Lineup
Foerster – Cates – Brink
Michkov – Couturier – Konecny
Tippett – Poehling – Pelletier
Deslauriers – Abols – Lycksell
York – Sanheim
Seeler – Drysdale
Zamula – Andrae
Ersson
How to Watch the Montreal Canadiens vs. the Philadelphia Flyers, Thursday, March 27, 2025
Game 71 of the regular season will be aired on RDS and TSN2. Once the game is over, an instant recap complete with highlights will be available on Montreal Hockey Now.
About time Monty sits. He’s never been consistent playing more than 3 games in a row.
I get why St-Louis wants to be loyal toward his veteran starter, but there’s no room for that at this point in the season. They need points, plain and simple.
Dobeš needs to stay off his stomach. When he first arrived he was nice and upright and square to shooters, and he won. Since then he’s been ending up on his stomach over and over, and the results haven’t been there. Pierre McGuire claims the book on him is his glove side. I think he’s confused. That’s definitely Montembeault’s weakness. Dobeš problem lately has been as soon as he gets moving side to side, he’s ending up on his stomach. That’s the worst place to be as a goalie. I’m hoping he can get his mojo back tonight. He’s certainly had lots of opportunity to practice technique since his last game. The concern for me is Philly may play inspired tonight for their “new” coach. We need to be full throttle for 60min tonight. No more snoozing out of the gate. The leaders on the team need to light a fire under the guys in the room before stepping onto the ice. I want to see them come out like they were shot out of a cannon to start the game, and just completely overwhelm the Flyers before they even know what hits them.
Habs better come out fast and hard, because while Philly has a dreadful record, they were embarrassed on Tuesday in Toronto and their coach just got fired. They will be motivated. Go Habs Go.