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The Philadelphia Flyers have be perforated by injuries this season. The injury that has forced Chris Pronger into semi-retirement would be enough to devastate most teams, but the Flyers have lost Scott Hartnell, Andrej Meszaros, and as of last night, Kimmo Timonen are also injured.
Timonen may not miss tonight's game against the Habs, but after sitting out the third period against New Jersey last night there seems to be a good chance of it.
As if the Montreal Canadiens were feeling sorry for the Flyers, Carey Price isn't going to be playing tonight as he's out with the flu. It must be quite the sickness because the Habs have recalled Robert Mayer to back up Peter Budaj.
Budaj will be looking for his first win of the season, and a rebound game after allowing 10 goals in 2 games. Budaj played one game against the Flyers last season, allowing 4 goals on 33 shots. Most of the damage was done on the Flyers' powerplay, which scored 3 times on 6 shots.
The Flyers are coming into tonight's game on the second half of a back-to-back, losing 5-3 to New Jersey last night. The Flyers had a 3-1 lead after the first period, but New Jersey scored 4 goals on just 12 shots in the final two periods on Ilya Bryzgalov.
Bryzgalov's terrible performance last night may make today the battle of the backups, although the Flyers' main backup, Michael Leighton, is injured. So it may be veteran former and current Flyer Brian Boucher in net for Philadelphia.
The Flyers have a four way tie for their leading scorers, 10 points each for Claude Giroux, Jakub Voracek, Matt Read, and Brayden Schenn.
After starting the season quite poorly in regards to possession, the Flyers are now a positive club, right behind the Canadiens when the score is close, and ahead when the score is tied.
The Canadiens on the other hand, are coming home after a successful road trip to Florida. Winning two games after regulation had expired, the Habs will be looking for a stronger performance tonight.
Max Pacioretty scored two goals against the Flyers last year, and with no goals in 9 thus far in the season, Pacioretty is due.
After a losing streak and two wins against less than exciting teams, this one is finally a game that Habs fans should be excited about.
For the perspective of the other side, check out the lair of the Dark Lord of SBN, Broad Street Hockey.