By Rob Riches, Sports Talk Philly contributor
While the Flyers' offense in Saturday's win over Carolina was red-hot — particularly in the second period — they faced a bit of a test on Monday in Montreal.
They took on a Canadiens team in la belle province that was not just on a mission to duplicate their scorching start from last year, but for Carey Price to return to his dominant pre-injury form. He answered the call, turning away 29 of 30 shots with relative ease.
The Orange and Black now return home for the latter half of a back-to-back matchup, this time taking on the Buffalo Sabres. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m.
| Flyers Leaders | GP | G | A | P | Sabres Leaders | GP | G | A | P |
| Jakub Voracek | 6 | 3 | 5 | 8 | Ryan O'Reilly | 4 | 3 | 2 | 5 |
| Claude Giroux | 6 | 0 | 7 | 7 | Rasmus Ristolainen | 4 | 0 | 5 | 5 |
| Wayne Simmonds | 6 | 4 | 1 | 5 | Brian Gionta | 4 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| Brandon Manning | 6 | 1 | 4 | 5 | Kyle Okposo | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Matt Read | 6 | 5 | 0 | 5 | Matt Moulson | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Player to Watch | |
| Jakub Voracek | Ryan O'Reilly |
| Last 5 Games: 3 G, 4 A, 7 P, -2 | Last 5 Games: 3 G, 2 A, 5 P, E |
| Goalie Matchup | |
| 30 Michal Neuvirth | 31 Anders Nilsson |
| 2-1-0, 4.24 GAA, .854 SV% | 0-0-0, 0.00 GAA, .000 SV% |
With Steve Mason making the Flyers' last three starts, expect Michal Neuvirth to get the nod tonight. Neuvirth will be going up against his former team. He spent parts of the 2013-14 and 2014-15 seasons in Buffalo.
Anders Nilsson will be making his first start of the season for the Sabres (which is why his stats above read similar to Dean Wormer's midterm grade discussion in Animal House). Robin Lehner had been called upon for the Sabres so far this season, but he will be out with an undisclosed illness tonight.
Flyers Projected Lineup
Scratches: Dale Weise, Andrew MacDonald, Michael Raffl, Scott Laughton, Michael Del Zotto
| Left Wing | Center | Right Wing |
| 10 Brayden Schenn | 28 Claude Giroux | 17 Wayne Simmonds |
| 11 Travis Konecny | 14 Sean Couturier | 93 Jake Voracek |
| 24 Matt Read | 78 Pierre-Edouard Bellemare | 25 Nick Cousins |
| 76 Chris VandeVelde | 27 Boyd Gordon | 13 Roman Lyubimov |
| Defense | ||
| 53 Shayne Gostisbehere | 3 Radko Gudas | |
| 9 Ivan Provorov | 23 Brandon Manning | |
| 55 Nick Schultz | 32 Mark Streit | |
| Goalie | ||
| 30 Michal Neuvirth |
Game Notes
- Power Play: Flyers (13th, 16th at home), Sabres (12th, 14th on road)
- Penalty Kill: Flyers (22nd, 16th at home), Sabres (6th, 10th on road)
- Recent History vs. Canadiens
- Feb. 11, 2016 – Four goals in the second period by R.J. Umberger, Brayden Schenn, Wayne Simmonds and Michael Raffl helped the Flyers top the Bruins, 5-1. Nick Cousins also scored the first goal of his career in the third period, and recorded a two-point game. Steve Mason recorded 41 saves on 42 shots.
- Oct. 30, 2015 – Ryan O'Reilly recorded a goal and two assists, as the Sabres topped the Flyers, 3-1, in the second game of a home-and-home series. Mark Streit scored the Flyers' lone goal late in the third period, while Michal Neuvirth made 33 saves.
- Oct. 27 2015 – The Flyers rallied back from a 2-0 deficit in the third thanks to Brayden Schenn, but as Jake McCabe gave the Sabres a late 3-2 lead, Schenn tied it yet again with 54 seconds on the clock. His effort went for naught, though, as Zemgus Girgensons netted the OT winner at 2:29 of the extra period.
- A Look Back in Flyers History - The Flyers and Sabres first met at the fabled Spectrum on Oct. 22, 1970, and Cliff Schmautz and Gilbert Perreault gave the Sabres a 2-0 lead. Simon Nolet scored midway through the first period, though, and third-period goals from rookie Bobby Clarke, Jean-Guy Gendron and Garry Peters helped lift the Orange and Black over the expansion newcomers, 4-2.
Where to Watch
TV: CSN
Radio: 97.5 The Fanatic
