Gameday Preview: Flyers vs. Canadiens
In the second game of their best-of-seven Eastern Conference Quarterfinals series, Alain Vigneault's top-seeded Philadelphia Flyers will take on Claude Julien's eighth-seeded Montreal Canadiens. Game time is 3:00 p.m. ET. The game will be televised locally on NBCSP and nationally on NBCSN.
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 will serve as interim head coach in his absence.
The Flyers are the designated home team for Games 1 and 2 (and, if necessary, Games 5 and 7) of this season, and will have the last line change. Montreal has last change in Games 3 and 4 (and, if necessary, in Game 6).
In Game 1, the Flyers had the better of play in the first and third periods, particularly the final stanza. In between, the Canadiens utterly dominated the second period and the Flyers were fortunate to go to intermission with a 2-1 lead. Philadelphia then did a strong closeout job in the final stanza.
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).
"Montreal came at us very hard in that second period. We bent a little bit, but we didn’t break. In the third period, I thought we handled our puck decisions better," Vigneault said.
The Flyers went 1-for-3 on the power play. The Canadiens went 1-for-1.
Flyers Outlook
Flyers defenseman Justin Braun said there are lessons the team can take away from Game 1, both in how poorly the club played in the second period and in how they corrected their course in the third.
"I think we need to be a little harder in some areas. Play smarter. They took advantage of some turnovers by us, some sloppy play and quick passes behind guys they were turning into offense. I thought they did a good job capitalizing on our mistakes but we’ve just got to keep that under control. Make the plays that are there," Braun said.
After
Thursday's practice in the Bubble in Toronto, Vigneault seemed inclined to stay with the same personnel and line combinations that the Flyers featured in Game 1. That included Farabee on right wing on Sean Couturier's line, Voracek (who, in the past, has expressed a preference for playing his off-wing) on Derek Grant's left wing, and James van Riemsdyk on Nate Thompson's left wing on the fourth line.
"I like Jake’s game yesterday. I thought he was strong on the puck and good on the forecheck. Obviously, a little bit more comfortable on the right side. I think that there’s adjustments made throughout games and throughout series and at this time, we feel that that’s where he can be most beneficial to our team. Overall, I thought he played a strong game," Vigneault said of Voracek in Game 1.
Regarding JVR on the fourth line with Thompson and Tyler Pitlick, Vigneault added, "JVR on the fourth line or the first line doesn’t change the way he has to play, which is a north-south game with a big body and goes to the net. That’s where he scores most of his goals from. On that line with Nate and Tyler, Tyler goes hard on the forecheck. Nate’s a pretty up and down hard player. That line had some real good looks yesterday, really effective. Get different matchups than he would on a top, or different line, or a first or second line, however you guys want to call it. I think it whether it be him or Jake that we just talked about prior, those guys can be very effective and they need to be effective for us to win games."
If there are any changes made, one possibility would be for Robert Hägg to re-enter the lineup and for Shayne Gostisbehere, who dressed in Game 1, to exit. However, on Thursday, Vigneault praised Gostisbehere for a strong finish to the first game and said he made several good outlet passes under heavy forechecking pressure. He also seemed inclined to give the pairing of Braun and Gostisbehere another game together.
"Getting a couple surgeries, especially on both knees, is definitely not ideal, especially for a guy who takes pride in his skating and getting up in the play. I definitely feel better. I feel more elusive and more confidence with every day that goes by. It’s not only in the games, but in practice too. I feel good and getting back to my old self, doing things I normally do. I’m just going to take it day by day and keep it simple at first. The other stuff will come," Gostisbehere said.
Gostisbehere's partner, Braun, felt that their pairing collectively had a game much like that of the entire team -- good start, good finish, and a rather rough patch in the middle.
"I thought the first and the third we were feeling pretty good. Got in some trouble, I think like the whole group, in the second. He’s offensively dynamic and he’s got that step and move at the blueline. It’s nice to have that. Can skate well, get to pucks quick and I think that’s what will help our pair overall," Braun said.
One of the Flyers' most effective defensemen in Game 1 -- even during some of the rough patches for the team -- was Phil Myers. He continued what thus far has been a stellar postseason run by using both his mobility and size to strong effect. The pair of Myers and Travis Sanheim has been very good in every game since play resumed.
Hart, who celebrated his 22nd birthday on Thursday, will get the start again in Game 2.
"I think some guys got him some ice cream yesterday after the game and sang him ‘Happy Birthday’. He’s been pretty good so let him do his thing," Gostisbehere said.
Canadiens Outlook
The Canadiens were happy with many aspects of their game on Wednesday, including the latter half of the first period and virtually the entire second period. They used their speed effectively to get in aggressively on the forecheck and their typical willingness to throw pucks at the net from just about any angle created some havoc and scrambles around the net.
The Phillip Danault line with Artturi Lehkonen and Paul Byron was particularly effective and the likes of Brendan Gallagher (one assist, seven shots on goal) and Joel Armia (6 shots on goal and 10 shot attemtps in 11:49 of ice time) were tough to contain in second period in particular.
The Habs were credited with 32 hits in Game 1 to 27 for the Flyers, led by six credited hits for defenseman Ben Chiarot and five apiece for Danault and defenseman Jeff Petry. Top defenseman Shea Weber logged 22:08 of ice time, while Petry led the team at 25:35. Third-pair defenseman Xavier Ouellet was credited with a half-dozen blocked shots.
Price, who will celebrate his 33rd birthday on Sunday (Aug. 16), had little chance on either Flyers goal in Game 1. The first was a double deflection. The latter was a deflection and rebound put-in by Farabee. Price authored a highlight reel desperation stick save on Scott Laughton in the second period. Center Nick Suzuki also got a piece of the puck.
Prior to taking ill at the hotel after Game 1, Julien praised the play of highly skilled 20-year-old center Nick Suzuki, who held even with Sean Couturier's line in terms of puck possession.
"He played a big game. It's obvious, he was one of our good players, again tonight. It's encouraging to see young players like him playing that way. That's one of the reasons we're here against a team with a lot of depth and experience. Our young people don't seem intimidated by this," Julien said.
Price got some help from his goal post on a Claude Giroux shot that beat him cleanly. In the third period, former teammate Thompson missed a seeming gimme on a gaping net, albeit with the puck on its edge. At the other end of the ice, a developing 2-on-0 for Montreal in the second period went awry when puck-carrier Lekhonen lost his footing and fell to the ice.
Weber's assessment of Game 1 was that he came away feeling that the Canadiens can compete successfully against the Flyers and that the second period was the team's blueprint for doing so moving forward.
“We were a little rusty at first. I found we were slow, maybe because we didn't play for several days. I thought as the game went on we got better and showed we can compete with them. We can play with them. It is a series of seven parts. It was a close game and it should be a good series," Weber said.
“I think at the start we didn't do a good job of getting some pucks behind their defense. We sent a lot of pucks back to their defenders and they were able to use their transition speed. That's what they like to do. "
PROJECTED LINEUPS (will be updated, subject to change)
FLYERS
28 Claude Giroux - 14 Sean Couturier - 93 Jakub Voracek
21 Scott Laughton - 13 Kevin Hayes - 11 Travis Konecny
49 Joel Farabee - 38 Derek Grant - 62 Nic Aube-Kubel
25 James van Riemsdyk- 44 Nate Thompson - 18 Tyler Pitlick
9 Ivan Provorov - 15 Matt Niskanen
6 Travis Sanheim - 5 Phil Myers
53 Shayne Gostisbehere - 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 - 3:00 PM
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
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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