|
Flyers ECQF Gameday: Game 4 vs. MTL (8/18/20) |
|
|
|
|
|
Gameday Preview: Flyers vs. Canadiens
In the fourth 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 3:00 p.m. ET. The game will be televised 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 is serving as interim head coach in his absence.
The Flyers are the designated road team for Game 4 of the series. As such, the Canadiens will have last line change.
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, 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.
In Game 3, the Flyers grinded out a 1-0 victory, as Hart recorded a 23-save shutout and the team made its one-goal lead stand up the rest of the way after a Voracek deflection goal on a set play at 5:21 of the first period. Giroux and Robert Hägg earned the assists.
From a Corsi standpoint, the Canadiens got the better of Game 3. However, per Natural Stat Trick, Montreal had just four high-danger chances for the game and only one in the third period. There wasn't much operating room for either team, and Philly was limited to 20 shots.
VIgneault said his team had to "grease it out" to win Game 3. He was referring to strong checking, hard-hitting (36-23 edge), shot-blocking (24, including a half-dozen by Matt Niskanen), and strong penalty killing (3-for-3), plus several critical saves by Hart.
One area of ongoing concern: the Flyers went 0-for-6 on the power play in Game 3, and generated little pressure on most of the man advantages. For the series, the Flyers are 1-for-14 (1-for-3, 0-for-5, 0-for-6) on the power play. For the postseason as a whole, they're 1-for-25.
Flyers Outlook
Monday was an off-ice day for the Flyers. With both teams in the midst of playing each other three times in four nights, neither team practiced on Monday.
In Game 3, the Flyers featured two lineup changes.
Michael Raffl, who was injured in the third period of the round-robin opener against Boston, returned to the lineup after a two-week absence. Joel Farabee was a healthy scratch, while James van Riemsdyk remained on third-line left wing.
Robert Hägg dressed on D after being scratched in the round-robin finale and the first two games of this series. Shayne Gostisbehere was scratched in Game 3.
Nicolas Aube-Kubel hobbled off the ice twice in Game 3, after blocking pucks of his skate.
Canadiens Outlook
The Habs went with the same lineup and line combos in Game 3 as they did in laying a 5-0 whipping on the Flyers in the second game of the series. The only changes from Game 1 to Game 2 were Jake Evans entering the lineup (with veteran winger Dale Weise coming out) and Max Domi moving from fourth line center to wing on Jesperi Kotkaniemi's line.
In both Game 1 and Game 2, the Phillip Danault line got the better of their head-to-head shifts against Sean Couturier's line. That trend reversed in Game 3, especially in the first 40 minutes of the game.
Domi had a three-assist game in Game 2 when he moved up in the lineup. He also drew the ire of the Flyers by steamrolling Elliott late in the second period of Game 2 and apparently spearing Kevin Hayes in the groin (although Domi received only a slashing minor) in the third period of Game 3. Hayes downplayed the incident during his media availability on Monday.
STARTING LINEUPS
FLYERS
12 Michael Raffl - 14 Sean Couturier - 93 Jakub Voracek
49 Joel Farabee - 13 Kevin Hayes - 11 Travis Konecny
28 Claude Giroux - 38 Derek Grant - 21 Scott Laughton
82 Connor Bunnaman - 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 - 24 Phillip Danault - 11 Brendan Gallagher
13 Max Domi - 14 Nick Suzuki - 92 Jonathan Drouin
41 Paul Byron - 15 Jesperi Kotkaniemi - 62 Artturi Lehkonen
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 - Flyers 1 - Canadiens 0
Tuesday, August 18 - 3:00 PM
Wednesday, August 19 – 8:00 PM
Friday, August 21 – TBD*
Sunday, August 23 – TBD*
*if necessary
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
Join the Discussion:
»