Round 1, Game 4 Preview: Flyers-Canadiens

Kevin Durso

August 18 2020

By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor

In Game 3, the Flyers did something they hadn't done since May 1, 2003. They won a playoff game by a score of 1-0.

It wasn't a perfect game from the Flyers, but it was a better game than the debacle in Game 2. Now the Flyers have a chance to take a commanding lead in the series against the Montreal Canadiens again, just as it hits a crucial point.

Games 4 and 5 fall on back-to-back days, and the Flyers can make Game 5 have a lot more meaning for them if they can get a win in Game 4.

Game 4 is set for 3 p.m.

Team Leaders

Philadelphia Flyers	GP	G	A	P	Montreal Canadiens	GP	G	A	P
Scott Laughton	6	3	2	5	Shea Weber	7	3	2	5
Kevin Hayes	6	0	4	4	Jesperi Kotkaniemi	7	4	0	4
Joel Farabee	4	2	1	3	Paul Byron	7	1	3	4
Jake Voracek	6	2	1	3	Jeff Petry	7	2	1	3
Travis Sanheim	6	1	2	3	Nick Suzuki	7	1	2	3

Player to Watch
13 Kevin Hayes	15 Jesperi Kotkaniemi
Last 5 Games: 0 G, 3 A, 3 P, +3	Last 5 Games: 2 G, 0 A, 2 P, +3

Kevin Hayes has been one of many players on the Flyers, most of them in fact, that has been contained by the Canadiens because the time and space is not there. Hayes is usually dominant with the puck on his stick, but with time and space at a premium, Hayes hasn't been able to showcase his puck protection skills and set up teammates. If he can figure that out, it could lead to more offense for the Flyers.

Jesperi Kotkaniemi followed up his two-goal game in Game 2 by hitting the post twice and coming close to tying the game in the closing seconds of Game 3. He's clearly a player who drives Montreal's offense. He's already made an impact in this series, and he could be the player to do it again if they are to get back into the series.

Projected Goalie Matchup
79 Carter Hart	31 Carey Price
5 GP, 4-1-0, 1.51 GAA, .949 SV%	7 GP, 4-3-0, 1.40 GAA, .953 SV%

Game 3 was another bounce-back effort for Carter Hart. One game after allowing four goals in the Game 2 loss, Hart stopped all 23 shots he faced for his first career playoff shutout. Given the way the rest of the series has gone, it may take another performance like that from Hart to help the Flyers get the desired result in Game 4.

For the second time in the series, Carey Price played a solid game and took the loss. Price made 19 saves on 20 shots in the Game 3 loss, but didn't see near the shot volume that is needed to really put pressure on him. Price should be fresh and ready to go in this game, so peppering him with shots and trying to bring traffic to the net needs to be the formula for the Flyers.

Flyers Projected Lineup

Left Wing	Center	Right Wing
28 Claude Giroux	14 Sean Couturier	93 Jake Voracek
21 Scott Laughton	13 Kevin Hayes	11 Travis Konecny
49 Joel Farabee	38 Derek Grant	12 Michael Raffl
82 Connor Bunnaman	44 Nate Thompson	18 Tyler Pitlick
Defense
9 Ivan Provorov	15 Matt Niskanen
6 Travis Sanheim	5 Phil Myers
8 Robert Hagg	61 Justin Braun
Goalie
79 Carter Hart	37 Brian Elliott

Canadiens Projected Lineup

Left Wing	Center	Right Wing
90 Tomas Tatar	24 Philip Danault	11 Brendan Gallagher
13 Max Domi	14 Nick Suzuki	92 Jonathan Drouin
41 Paul Byron	15 Jesperi Kotkaniemi	62 Artturi Lehkonen
60 Alex Belzile	71 Jake Evans	40 Joel Armia
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: Both James van Riemsdyk and Nicolas Aube-Kubel are out of the lineup for Game 4. van Riemsdyk was rumored to be coming out for Joel Farabee, and Aube-Kubel had two shot blocks that staggered him in Game 3. He may be unfit to play, which would allow Connor Bunnaman to slot back into the lineup.
Canadiens: The Canadiens stuck with the same lineup from Game 2 in Game 3 and it seemed to work, despite the loss. It would not be a surprise for Montreal to go back to that same lineup again for Game 4.

Game Notes

Power Play: Flyers (24th), Canadiens (T-16th)
Penalty Kill: Flyers (16th), Canadiens (6th)
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
- Aug. 14, 2020 (Game 2) – Canadiens 5, Flyers 0
- Aug. 16, 2020 (Game 3) – Flyers 1, Canadiens 0
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%