Game 13: Montreal Canadiens vs. Philadelphia Flyers
Start time: 7:00 PM EDT / 4:00 PM PDT
In the Canadiens region: TSN2 (English), RDS (French)
In the Flyers region: NBCSP
Streaming: ESPN+, TSN Live
On Saturday night, the Canadiens took an early lead against the Ottawa Senators. Unfortunately, they couldn’t put the game on ice, and the Senators slowly crept back into contention, even taking the lead in the 3rd period on a goal by Tim Stützle. From there, the Habs re-engaged their skill, with Ivan Demidov pilfering the first point and Alex Newhook securing the second in overtime.
Stop me if you’ve heard this story before.
Saturday night marked the tenth time in twelve games that the Canadiens have held a lead in a game. It marked the seventh time that they held a multi-goal advantage at some point. It also marked the sixth time of those seven situations that the opponent managed to close within one, and the fourth time that they managed to tie the game or take the lead.
On the one hand, the Habs are flying a little too close to the sun, and their fans would certainly be grateful for a few comfortable wins where the result is no longer in question by the second intermission. On the other hand, Montreal has come a long way if winning in the wrong fashion is all that the faithful have to worry about.
Fresh off their ninth victory of the season — a mark reached on December 3rd last season — the Habs welcome the Philadelphia Flyers to the Bell Centre.
Tale of the Tape
| Canadiens | Statistics | Flyers |
|---|---|---|
| 9-3-0 | Record | 6-5-1 |
| 49.0% (18th) | Expected-goal share | 51.8% (11th) |
| 3.67 (2nd) | Goals per game | 2.58 (27th) |
| 3.00 (15th) | Goals against per game | 2.58 (5th) |
| 28.6% (6th) | PP% | 18.9% (20th) |
| 76.9% (20th) | PK% | 90.5% (1st) |
| 2-1-0 | Head-to-Head Record (24-25) | 1-2-0 |
| Cole Caufield (10) | Most goals | Owen Tippett (5) |
| Nick Suzuki (16) | Most assists | Trevor Zegras (9) |
| Nick Suzuki (18) | Most points | Trevor Zegras (13) |
The Flyers find themselves in an odd place entering this season. After three years of gradual progress, Philadelphia was hoping that the team would be able to be, well, in the mix, in 2024-25. Instead, they finished last in the Metropolitan Division, fifteen points out of a playoff spot. The easy culprit for the Flyers’ woes can be found between the pipes, where Samuel Ersson (3.14 GAA, .883 save percentage) was the best of a bad lot. However, Philadelphia also struggled to score, with only two players — Matvei Michkov and Travis Konecny — topping 50 points.
The Flyers, and general manager Daniel Briere, focused on these two things during the offseason. Winning the Travis Zegras sweepstakes helped shore up the offence, but Philadelphia also turned over their goaltending — Ersson and third-goaltender Aleksei Kolosov remain, but Ivan Fedotov has been replaced by Dan Vladar, who has become their new starter. Vladar’s .924 save percentage is a big reason why Philadelphia currently sits 4th-best in the NHL in terms of goals allowed.
The goal scoring, though, remains a work in progress. Zegras is doing his part with 13 points in 12 games, but Michkov has started slowly, with only a single goal to his name thus far. Rejuvenated performances from Sean Couturier (9 points) and newly acquired Christian Dvorak (6 points) have helped the Flyers score just enough to win. However, they only have four players with more than three goals, and their defence has contributed just two tallies combined.
The Flyers have also been well-served by playing nine games thus far at home, and all six of their wins on the season have come at Xfinity Mobile Arena. They come to Montreal looking for their first road victory, but also to snap a two game losing streak. The Canadiens, meanwhile, seek their fourth straight W before heading off to New Jersey for arguably their toughest test of the season thus far. At the same time, they’re also hoping to break a different, less desired streak, and allow fewer than three goals against for the first time in five contests.
In many ways, the Philadelphia Flyers are reminiscent of where the Montreal Canadiens were two or three years ago. They are a team that doesn’t appear to have enough to reasonably expect to contend, but can still be dangerous on any given night. The Canadiens will be looking for a more balanced and steady performance this time out, and hopefully can achieve a favourable result within 60 minutes.
