Gameday Preview: Flyers vs. Canadiens

In the third game of their best-of-seven Eastern Conference Quarterfinals series, Alain Vigneault's Philadelphia Flyers will take on Claude Julien's Montreal Canadiens. Game time is 8:00 p.m. ET. The game will be televised nationally on NBC.

Julien was hospitalized after suffering chest pains on the night following Game One of the series. The 60-year-old Jack Adams Award and Stanley Cup-winning coach is not expected to be able to return to the team this series. Associate coach Kirk Muller is serving as interim head coach in his absence.

The Flyers are the designated road team for Game 3 and 4 of the series. As such, the Canadiens will have last line change in the next two games.

Series Synopsis

In Game 1, the Flyers had the better of play in the first and third periods, particularly the final stanza. In the first period, the Flyers exited with 1-0 lead on the scoreboard, an 11-5 shot edge, and a 54.29% Corsi. In the third period, Philly staged a strong closeout to slam the door with a one goal lead: a 13-6 shot edge for the Flyers, and a 58.33% team Corsi. Montreal barely got a sniff at a comeback.

The second period, though, was very ugly for Philadelphia. The Flyers were utterly caved in that frame and were very lucky to get to the second intermission with a 2-1 lead. Montreal racked up a 17-7 shot edge, a 71.43% Corsi and a 15-6 scoring chance edge including a half-dozen high-danger chances. Owed primarily to stellar goaltending, the Flyers were fortunate to go to intermission with the 2-1 lead they maintained the rest of the way.

A power play goal by Jakub Voracek (1st goal of the playoffs), which was originally credited to Ivan Provorov, staked the Flyers to a 1-0 lead. Shea Weber (3rd) knotted the game briefly in the latter portion of the second period only for Joel Farabee (2nd) to put the Flyers back ahead to stay just 16 seconds after play resumed. Carter Hart (27 saves on 28 shots) made the lead hold up, defeating Carey Price (29 saves on 31 shots). The Flyers went 1-for-3 on the power play. The Canadiens went 1-for-1.

Game 2 was like the second period of Game 1, except on steroids. The Habs dominated and battered the Flyers from pillar to post on the way to a 5-0 shellacking. Montreal, by a huge margin, outskated, outforechecked, outbackchecked, outworked in the trenches and were also the more physical team when it mattered. Special teams were also lopsided, with the Flyers going 0-for-5 on the power play and the Canadiens going 2-for-6.

Tomas Tatar (1st and 2nd of the playoffs) and Jesperi Kotkaniemi (3rd and 4th) scored two goals apiece for Montreal, with both players tallying even strength and power play goals. Joel Armia (1st) also scored for the Habs. Max Domi collected three assists.

For most of Game 2, Carey Price saw little beyond routine, clear-sighted shots. He finished with a 30-save shutout. Hart, who lasted 37:57 and stopped 22 of 26 shots, was utterly hung out to dry on all four Montreal goals he allowed before giving way to Brian Elliott (five saves on six shots) for the rest of the game. If not for Hart, the score easily could have been 5-0 or 6-0 by the end of the first period.


Flyers Outlook

Saturday was a pre-planned off-day for the Flyers. For Game 3, there's a host of areas that need to be cleaned up for the team to get back to playing the way they did in the 3-0 round robin and the opening and final periods of Game 1 of the conference quarterfinals.

Start with the team's front-line players, both in terms of offensive output but also in regard to winning the battles that lead up to scoring chances. Team-wide, the two-way play was strong overall through the first period of Game 1 (and then also in the third period), but has been sprung a leak in four of the last five periods they've played.

Offensively, the bottom line here is that none among Selke Trophy finalist Sean Couturier (two assists), team captain Claude Giroux (one assist), second line center Kevin Hayes (team-high four assists), regular season scoring leader and NHL All-Star Game rep Travis Konecny (two assists), veteran 25-to-30 goal scorer James van Riemsdyk (zero points), No. 1 defenseman Ivan Provorov (two assists) and veteran partner Matt Niskanen (zero points) have scored a goal to date in the postseason.

For the Flyers to re-take the series lead, they will probably need immediate goal-production from at least some of these players. Voracek was credited with a double-deflection power play goal in Game 1 of this series and has two points overall in four postseason games. He, too, is capable of playing a lot better shift-in and shift-out as the Flyers move along in the current series.

Until Game 2 of this series, the Flyers were getting plenty of offensive output from the supporting cast, led by Scott Laughton (three goals, two assists), 20-year-old rookie Joel Farabee (two goals, three points in four games), Nic Aube-Kubel (two goals), the fourth line (combined four goals between Michael Raffl, Nate Thompson and Tyler Pitlick) and the blue line (combined two goals and four points from the pairing of Travis Sanheim and Phil Myers, as well as Provorov's aforementioned two assists).

Goal support from role players and the defense is needed and very helpful, but cannot be relied on every game. A team's best players have to be the offensive backbone. The bottom line is that the Flyers have scored only a combined two goals in two games in this series. Whether it's at 5-on-5 or the power play, goals are needed right now. As a matter of fact, the Flyers had better scoring chances shorthanded (one for Hayes, one for Sanheim) last game than they did overall at even strength or the power play.

During the regular season, the Flyers had significantly superior overall special teams numbers than the Canadiens and a slightly better five-on-five goal differential. When they met head-to-head, however, the Habs actually blanked the Flyers' power play in the regular season series and went 2-for-6 on their own power play. It was at 5-on-5 (and 3-on-3 overtime, which is how Philly won two of three from Montreal in the regular season) where the Flyers controlled much of the play.

Over four of the six periods in the current series to date, the Canadiens have been the better club both at five-on-five and on special teams. That's a bad recipe, and one that needs to be reversed immediately.

We've talked a lot above about the offensive side of the puck, which also includes getting much more traffic at the net and more players driving successfully with the puck to the net. Price will stop what isn't deflected, screened or point-blank from an unchecked shooter (and, even there, some volume is needed). The Flyers have not been able to get their F1 in with speed on the forecheck, their offensive zone cycling game going or set up their their neutral-zone forecheck in the majority of periods in the series.

Defensively, the Flyers have to be much, much cleaner on their clearing opportunities and controlled exit attempts. Turnovers feed an opposing forecheck and turn it into a beast of prolonged attack time, heightened risk of a Grade A scoring chance developing, a penalty being taken or a desperation icing.

Until Game 2 -- which, along with excellent goaltending from Hart and Elliott, was THE biggest reason the Flyers allowed only four goals in four games -- the Flyers defensive coverages were usually very good. They kept tight gaps, took away the areas between and below the dots and whatever rebounds that were allowed were usually cleared with relative ease.

Last game, the coverages broke down: two defensemen on the same side of the net with no forward support down low (a problem on two separate goals last game), a D-man heavily screening his own goaltender in trying and failing to block a shot, D-men eluding strong-side or weak-side wingers to allow them to pinch, centers sealing off their checks down low in support of the D. When you don't do those things, you give up crooked numbers on the scoreboard.

The Flyers goaltending has been very good in the playoffs, even in Game 2 of this series. Hart was blameless on three of the four goals he allowed and was only partially culpable on the other because he turned a puck over behind the net and lost his stick. Even there, the eventual goal took time to be scored and came about because the D was unable to clear, and the eventual scorer was wide open to score on a hard-to-prevent rebound.

After Niskanen played consistently well all season, he has struggled a bit the last several games with turnovers and a couple decisions he'd like to have back. Justin Braun, who was a rock of consistency in the second half of the season, has struggled to a higher degree than Niskanen. Both need to get back to being stabilizing presences against the forecheck and in times of chaos.

Provorov has been a bit inconsistent in the current series but has had a strong postseason overall. The Sanheim and Myers pair has been excellent overall but had some hiccups in the third period of the Tampa Bay game and were part of the breakdown on the Canadiens' goal scored just 62 seconds into Game 2. They need a bounceback game.

Meanwhile, there is a good chance the Flyers restore Robert Hägg to the third pairing with Braun. Shayne Gostisbehere had a strong training camp and excellent round-robin but has really struggled in the series, both in tandem with and independent of Braun. His underlying numbers even in Game 1 were the worst on the starting D -- not just in Corsi but also in terms of shift length, as he averaged 50-plus seconds at 5-on-5. He actually played a whole notch better by the eye test in Game 1 than the stats show. Vigneault praised his third period and some of the passes he made under heavy forechecking pressure. In Game 2, Gostisbehere struggled mightily with Braun, and even after they were split later in the game.

Staring Hägg is not a panacea. His strength is in physical battles in the trenches, which is an area where the Flyers need to get better in this series. However, his primary weakness is in puckhandling and exits, and that's another area where the Flyers already have not been good in most of the periods in the series. Scratching Gostisbehere also would take away the threat of his lateral mobility, neutral zone aggressiveness and theoretical up-ice threat to create a chance or score a goal.

In terms of changes up front, this partially depends on the status of Konecny, who took a puck off his foot in the latter stages of the third period, limped off down the tunnel and did not return. If he's not available, the most likely scenarios involve moving van Riemsdyk up in the five-on-five forward rotation and hoping his game comes around. The Flyers might also consider the option of moving Laughton from second-line left wing to third-line center, although he's thrived overall on a line with Hayes and Konecny. It is possible that a third line combo of JVR, Laughton and either Aube-Kubel or Pitlick could be tried; they played together a bit during the regular season. If that's the case, Derek Grant could drop to the fourth line.

Michael Raffl, who sustained a lower-body injury in the third period of the round-robin opener, skated in warmups for the Flyers before Friday's game. That a sign that he's at least close to being ready to return. If Raffl isn't ready to play, Vigneault could turn back again to Connor Bunnaman at the LW4 spot.

Thus far, 21-year-old rookie Morgan Frost has not dressed at all in the postseason. Thus, the last time he was on the ice in a non-practice situation was the final scrimmage of training camp. His last competitive game was back in March for the Phantoms. The most likely scenario that would get him into the playoff lineup right now would be an injury to a center. However, the head coach could play a hunch if he's seen something in practices with the full group on the ice. Again, that doesn't seem likely right now, but Frost is the top prospect in the system from a purely offensive standpoint.


Canadiens Outlook

The Canadiens were happy with many aspects of their game in the series opener. They used the second period of Game 1 as their blueprint for approaching Game 2, and it worked almost to perfection. The way the Habs got in on the forecheck, pressured the D and made zone exits very tough, threw pucks at the net from all angles with forwards swarming for scrambles and the way they found seams and passing lanes was exactly what they wanted.

It should also be noted that the Canadiens, from the D core and their centers in particular, also played very well without the puck. Philly had mostly one-and-done forays, generated little sustained forechecking except in brief pockets of the game where they were already down 3-0 (and then 4-0). They made life easy on Price, who is capable of stealing a game or least a period or two of a game (as Hart did in the second period of Game 1).

Right now, the Canadiens don't need to change much of anything. Jake Evans came in for Dale Weise in Game 2 on the fourth line. That was it, in terms of personnel changes.

The Habs got a strong game out of Domi in Game 2, apart from a highly questionable decision to steamroll Elliott and take a penalty late in the second period with his team up by four goals. They got big games from regular season scoring leader Tatar (previously on the schneid for the playofs) and the fast-emerging Kotkaniemi. The 20-year-old Nick Suzuki, who had some great head-to-head battles in the OHL with Frost but is presently ahead of him in pro-level development status, has also played quite well.

Brendan Gallagher, who had seven shots on goal, nine shot attempts and dug free a puck in a net scramble to create Shea Weber's power play goal in Game 1, somehow got inanely criticized by the frequently clueless Mike Milbury for "lacking energy". The only difference in Game 2 was that he got on the scoresheet quickly and that Montreal collectively had jump from the outset rather than having the play taken to them early. Individually, Gallagher has been good all series.

However, if I had to pick the most unsung all-around Montreal forward in this series so far, it's been center Phillip Danault. He's been quick to pucks, checked tenaciously, skated very well and made life pretty miserable on whomever has been matched against him. He only has two points (0g, 2a) in the postseason so far but he's been putting his Canadiens teammates in good position for their next shift. He's a real good two-way player.


PROJECTED LINEUPS (subject to change)

FLYERS

28 Claude Giroux - 14 Sean Couturier - 93 Jakub Voracek
21 Scott Laughton - 13 Kevin Hayes - 11 Travis Konecny
25 James van Riemsdyk - 38 Derek Grant - 62 Nic Aube-Kubel
12 Michael Raffl - 44 Nate Thompson - 18 Tyler Pitlick

9 Ivan Provorov - 15 Matt Niskanen
6 Travis Sanheim - 5 Phil Myers
8 Robert Hägg - 61 Justin Braun

79 Carter Hart
[37 Brian Elliott]

CANADIENS

90 Tomas Tatar - 14 Nick Suzuki - 11 Brendan Gallagher
13 Max Domi - 15 Jesperi Kotkaniemi - 92 Jonathan Drouin
62 Artturi Lehkonen - 24 Phillip Danault - 41 Paul Byron
60 Alex Belzile - 71 Jake Evans- 40 Joel Armia

8 Ben Chiarot - 6 Shea Weber
77 Brett Kulak - 26 Jeff Petry
61 Xavier Ouellet - 53 Victor Mete ​

31 Carey Price
[39 Charlie Lindgren]

Comparative Team Stats(League ranking, via NHL.com and Natural Stat Trick)

GPG: PHI 3.29 (7th), MTL 2.93 (19th)
GAA: PHI 2.77(T-7th), MTL 3.10 (T-19th)
5-on-5: PHI +18 (153-135), MTL +15 (157-142)
Power Play: PHI 20.8% (14th), MTL 17.7% (22nd)
Penalty Kill: PHI 81.8% (11th), MTL 78.7% (19th)
Special Teams Index: PHI 102.6, MTL 96.4
SHG: PHI 8 (T-6th), MTL 6 (T-10th)
SHGA: PHI 6 (T-14th), MTL 5 (T-7th)
Average Shots: PHI 31.4 (16th), MTL 34.1 (2nd)
Shots Against: PHI 28.7 (1st), MTL 31.1 (T-13th)
Corsi: PHI 51.02% (9th), MTL 54.43% (2nd)
Scoring chances: PHI 50.91% (13th), MTL 51.44% (11th)
High-danger chances: PHI 50.83% (12th), MTL 54.64% (3rd)
Expected goal differential: PHI 50.64 (14th), MTL 54.01% (2nd)
Faceoffs: PHI 54.6% (1st), MTL 50.4% (12th)

​Series Schedule

Wednesday, August 12 - Flyers 2 - Canadiens 1
Friday, August 14 - Canadiens 5 - Flyers 0
Sunday, August 16 - 8:00 PM
Tuesday, August 18 - 3:00 PM
Wednesday, August 19 – TBD
Friday, August 21 – TBD*
Sunday, August 23 – TBD*

*if necessary

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