(Kate Frese/Sports Talk Philly)
By Bill Minchin, Sports Talk Philly writer
The Philadelphia Flyers (25-20-6) return home Thursday night to host the Atlantic Division leading Montreal Canadiens (30-14-7). This is the third and final meeting between the Eastern Conference foes and the lone game in Philadelphia. Opening faceoff is set for 7:00.
The Canadiens are coming off a 5-2 victory over the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday in their first game back from the All Star break while the Flyers look to recover from a humiliating 5-1 loss in Carolina on that same night.
Tonight is also the final Heritage Night of the 50th anniversary season. Throughout the game the team will be honoring it's captains.
| Flyers Leaders | GP | G | A | P | Canadiens Leaders | GP | G | A | P |
| Jake Voracek | 51 | 14 | 31 | 45 | Max Pacioretty | 51 | 24 | 18 | 42 |
| Claude Giroux | 51 | 11 | 29 | 40 | Alexander Radulov | 49 | 12 | 27 | 39 |
| Wayne Simmonds | 51 | 21 | 17 | 38 | Shea Weber | 51 | 12 | 19 | 31 |
| Brayden Schenn | 48 | 16 | 18 | 34 | Paul Byron | 50 | 14 | 15 | 29 |
| Travis Konecny | 50 | 7 | 15 | 22 | Alex Galchenyuk | 30 | 11 | 16 | 27 |
| Player to Watch | |
| 12 Michael Raffl | 6 Shea Weber |
| Last 5 Games: 0 G, 0 A, 0 P, -2 | Last 5 Games: 2 G, 1 A, 3 P, Even |
Michael Raffl is cold right now, REAL COLD. The Flyers winger has not registered a point since he scored in game back on January 7th against Tampa Bay. The Flyers have had a revolving door at the left wing spot on Claude Giroux's line ever since the departure of Scott Hartnell. Raffl has the trust of coach Hakstol but he needs to start producing more consistently to take the pressure off of the rest of the top players if the Flyers are to make the playoffs.
| Goalie Matchup | |
| 30 Michal Neuvirth |
31 Carey Price |
| 7-4-0, 3.17 GAA, .885 SV% | 23-10-5, 2.34 GAA, .922 SV% |
Michal Neuvirth gets the start in goals for the Flyers, his first start since last Thursday's win over Toronto. Since returning from injury, Neuvirth has appeared in six games — including twice in relief — and posted a 3-2-0 record while allowing nine goals on 136 shots.
Carey Price will get the nod for the Canadiens. Price's number are not quite what they were a few years back when he won both the Vezina and the Hart trophy. That being said, Price is still arguably the best netminder in the NHL. He has faced the Flyers twice this season with mixed results. In the two games he has allowed five total goals however the did get four by him in the latter meeting.
Flyers Projected Lineup
Scratches: Travis Konecny, Shayne Gostisbehere, Micheal Del Zotto
| Left Wing | Center | Right Wing |
| 12 Michael Raffl | 28 Claude Giroux | 93 Jakub Voracek |
| 22 Dale Weise | 10 Brayden Schenn | 17 Wayne Simmonds |
| 25 Nick Cousins | 14 Sean Couturier | 24 Matt Read |
| 76 Chris VandeVelde | 78 Pierre-Edouard Bellemare | 13 Roman Lyubimov |
| Defense | ||
| 9 Ivan Provorov | 47 Andrew MacDonald | |
| 32 Mark Streit | 3 Radko Gudas | |
| 23 Brandon Manning | 55 Nick Schultz | |
| Goalie | ||
| 30 Michal Neuvirth |
Game Notes
- Power Play: Flyers (9th, 8th at home), Canadiens (3rd, 2nd on the road)
- Penalty Kill: Flyers (19th, 11th at home), Canadiens (23rd, 27th on the road)
- Brayden Schenn picked up his 100th NHL goal in Tuesday's loss in Carolina
- Recent History vs. Montreal
- 10/24/16: After a scoreless first period the Canadiens got an early second period lead on a goal by Shea Weber. Jakub Voracek tied the score at 1-1 before the end of the period. Brendan Gallagher would put Montreal ahead for good with a power play goal at 13:08 of the third and Alexander Radulov added an empty netter for a 3-1 Canadiens victory. Carey Price made 31 saves in the win.
- 11/5/16: The Flyers showed Price was not immortal. Philadelphia managed to get four goals in on the All Star netminder but it would prove to be not enough. The Canadiens got five goals from five different players including a short handed goal from Thomas Plekanec en route to a 5-4 victory at the Bell Centre. Despite allowing four goals, Price was still solid making 34 saves to pick up the win. Michal Neuvirth on the other hand allowed five goals on 17 shots for the loss.
Where to Watch
TV: CSN
Radio: 93.3 WMMR
