Canadiens vs. Flyers Game Thread, roster, lines, and how to watch

Even though it's referred to as the "second-half" of the season, this is actually game 51 for the Habs. The lowest amount of games played in the league at the moment is held by the opponent the Canadiens will be visiting tonight, the Philadelphia Flyers, who have played 48.

The race for the playoffs really kicks off tonight, although, teams have been positioning themselves for this run for at least a month. The Canadiens are at the bottom of the pack, three points out of the final wildcard spot with more games played. They sit 11th, tied with the Ottawa Senators with 52 points. Two points back are the Philadelphia Flyers.

The Habs play 13 games in the month of February, and will launch into the month of March on a Pacific Division road trip, which could be a fateful point in the Canadiens' season should they still be hanging on in the standings. The better they do in February, the better they mitigate the risk of what is most often a disastrous trip to the Pacific coast.

David Desharnais will be centering the top line alongside Max Pacioretty and Dale Weise. It appears Alex Galchenyuk will remain on the wing. I still don't understand why Michel Therrien is playing it this safe. A top line with Galchenyuk centering Max Pacioretty is not even much of a risk. I won't complain if these lines actually produce. The problem is, as Marc pointed out in a recent tweet, they don't produce.

This year when the Pacioretty-Desharnais-Weise line is together they've been on the ice for 0.61 goals for /60 and 1.81 goals against /60.

— Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) February 1, 2016

The puck drops at 7:00 PM EST.

How To Watch:

In Canada (French): RDS
In Canada (English): Sportsnet East
In the Flyers region: CSN-PH
Elsewhere: NHL GameCenter, NHL Center Ice

Scratched: Greg Pateryn, Sven Andrighetto, Alexei Emelin
Injuries: Carey Price (lower body) Paul Byron (upper body), Daniel Carr (lower body)

Scratched: Brandon Manning, Jordan Weal
Injuries: Sean Couturier (lower body)

Check out the enemy over at Broad Street Hockey.

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