Canadiens vs. Flyers: Game thread, rosters, lines, and how to watch

Montreal Canadiens vs. Philadelphia Flyers

How to watch

Start time: 7:00 PM EST / 4:00 PM PST
In Canada: CBC, Sportsnet E/O, Sportsnet Now (English), TVA Sports (French)
In the Flyers region: NBCSP
Elsewhere: NHL.tv/Rogers NHL Live

After a 52-save performance on Tuesday versus the Florida Panthers, Antti Niemi gets another home start, this time in the national spotlight. He will have a chance to extend a personal winning streak to four games after quickly bouncing back from a few poor outings in December.

That would move his team’s run to five games, and (at least temporarily) vault the Canadiens ahead of the Toronto Maple Leafs in the Atlantic Division standings.

Up front, Charles Hudon steps in for Matthew Peca as Claude Julien makes a switch on the third line. Otherwise, we should see the same formation that came away with a 4-1 victory last night in Columbus.

Despite sitting right at the bottom of the rankings in the Eastern Conference, the Flyers have won two games in a row, posting seven goals on the Minnesota Wild before an impressive 4-3 win versus the Boston Bruins. Sean Couturier’s natural hat trick helped the team overcome a deficit to take the victory.

Couturier now leads the team with 19 goals, but it’s Claude Giroux who once again leads the offence for his team. With 52 points he’s doing his best to pull his team out of the basement. Nearly a point-per-game player in his career, he hasn’t enjoyed quite that level of success against Montreal, with 23 points in 30 games, and the Canadiens will hope to keep it that way tonight.

Montreal Canadiens projected lineup

Philadelphia Flyers projected lineup