Round 1, Game 2 Preview: Flyers-Canadiens

Kevin Durso

August 14 2020

By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor

The Flyers didn't have their best in Game 1, but came away with the 2-1 win in large part due to their goaltender. On Friday afternoon, they have a chance to really establish themselves in the series.

Meanwhile, the Canadiens know they are in a must-win situation to really stay in the series, and they will have their head coach in mind throughout the series, even if he isn't able to be behind the bench.

Another tight-checking, low-scoring game could be on tap again between these two teams.

Game 2 is set for 3 p.m.

Team Leaders

Philadelphia Flyers	GP	G	A	P	Montreal Canadiens	GP	G	A	P
Scott Laughton	4	3	2	5	Shea Weber	5	3	2	5
Kevin Hayes	4	0	4	4	Paul Byron	5	1	3	4
Joel Farabee	3	2	1	3	Jeff Petry	5	2	1	3
Travis Sanheim	4	1	2	3	Artturi Lehkonen	5	1	2	3
Nicolas Aube-Kubel	4	2	0	2	Jesperi Kotkaniemi	5	2	0	2

Player to Watch
49 Joel Farabee	14 Nick Suzuki
Last 5 Games: 2 G, 1 A, 3 P, +2	Last 5 Games: 1 G, 1 A, 2 P, +1

Joel Farabee has scored in back-to-back games since being moved to the Flyers top line with Claude Giroux and Sean Couturier. He certainly looks like he belongs there, generating a lot of energy and going to the net for scoring opportunities. His goal in Wednesday's game isn't the first time he solved Carey Price and he'll look to spark the Flyers again in a significant role.

The youth of the Canadiens has really come through for them already in these playoffs and Nick Suzuki came less than an inch from tying Game 1 in the closing seconds. Suzuki was arguably Montreal's best forward in Game 1 and is certainly a threat to score.

Projected Goalie Matchup
79 Carter Hart	31 Carey Price
3 GP, 3-0-0, 1.00 GAA, .966 SV%	5 GP, 3-2-0, 1.74 GAA, .945 SV%

Carter Hart was excellent again in his first playoff series start, making 27 saves in the Game 1 win. If anything, he's proved three times now that the stage certainly isn't too big. Hart was certainly the Flyers savior in Game 1, given the play in front of him for a majority of the second period, and he carried them to a win.

Carey Price put together an excellent game of his own in Game 1, making 29 saves on 31 shots. This will be a goalie duel throughout the series, but the Flyers certainly found one way to beat Price, by going to the net. Otherwise, if Price has a chance to make the save, he is capable of doing just that. He'll look to be the better backstop in Game 2 for the Canadiens.

Flyers Projected Lineup

Left Wing	Center	Right Wing
28 Claude Giroux	14 Sean Couturier	49 Joel Farabee
21 Scott Laughton	13 Kevin Hayes	11 Travis Konecny
62 Nicolas Aube-Kubel	38 Derek Grant	93 Jake Voracek
25 James van Riemsdyk	44 Nate Thompson	18 Tyler Pitlick
Defense
9 Ivan Provorov	15 Matt Niskanen
6 Travis Sanheim	5 Phil Myers
53 Shayne Gostisbehere	61 Justin Braun
Goalie
79 Carter Hart	37 Brian Elliott

Canadiens Projected Lineup

Left Wing	Center	Right Wing
90 Tomas Tatar	14 Nick Suzuki	11 Brendan Gallagher
92 Jonathan Drouin	15 Jesperi Kotkaniemi	40 Joel Armia
62 Artturi Lehkonen	24 Philip Danault	41 Paul Byron
22 Dale Weise	13 Max Domi	60 Alex Belzile
Defense
8 Ben Chiarot	6 Shea Weber
77 Brett Kulak	26 Jeff Petry
61 Xavier Ouellet	53 Victor Mete
Goalie
31 Carey Price	39 Charlie Lindgren

Lineup Notes

Flyers: Obviously, no word on any lineup changes, but it wouldn't be a surprise if the Flyers tried a couple of different things. There is certainly a chance that Robert Hagg could come back in for Shayne Gostisbehere for Game 2. No changes are expected at forward, but it may not be a surprise to see some line shuffling. James van Riemsdyk is a candidate to move to the third line and play alongside Jake Voracek with Nicolas Aube-Kubel dropping to the fourth line, but that remains to be seen.
Canadiens: Don't expect much in terms of changes for the Canadiens. They liked what they saw from the group in Game 1 and will likely go with the same lineup as a result.

Game Notes

Power Play: Flyers (T-23rd), Canadiens (22nd)
Penalty Kill: Flyers (14th), Canadiens (13th)
Recent History vs. Canadiens
- Nov. 7, 2019 – Flyers 3, Canadiens 2 (F/OT) (at PHI)
- Nov. 30, 2019 – Flyers 4, Canadiens 3 (F/OT) (at MTL)
- Jan. 16, 2020 – Canadiens 4, Flyers 1 (at PHI)
- Aug. 12, 2020 (Game 1) – Flyers 2, Canadiens 1
Flyers Leaders vs. Canadiens (Career Regular Season Stats)
- Jake Voracek – 31 GP, 7 G, 22 A, 29 P
- Shayne Gostisbehere – 13 GP, 2 G, 12 A, 14 P
- Claude Giroux – 36 GP, 10 G, 16 A, 26 P
- James van Riemsdyk – 39 GP, 16 G, 9 A, 25 P
- Sean Couturier – 27 GP, 7 G, 12 A, 19 P
- Carter Hart – 4 GP, 2-2-0, 2.85 GAA, .913 SV%