Flyers-Canadiens: Game 78 Preview

Kevin Durso

April 21 2022

By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor

With five games remaining in the season, the Flyers are rapidly closing in on locking up a Top 5 spot in the NHL Draft Lottery. Seattle's win over Colorado on Wednesday night moved them into third in draft lottery odds. One of the two teams behind them in the standings is their opponent on Thursday night.

Like the Flyers, the Montreal Canadiens come into Thursday's game with losses in six straight games.

Game time is 7 p.m.

Team Leaders

Philadelphia Flyers	GP	G	A	P	Montreal Canadiens	GP	G	A	P
Cam Atkinson	73	23	27	50	Nick Suzuki	77	20	37	57
Travis Konecny	74	14	35	49	Cole Caufield	62	18	20	38
Joel Farabee	58	17	17	34	Rem Pitlick	61	13	20	33
James van Riemsdyk	77	21	13	34	Mike Hoffman	62	11	18	29
Travis Sanheim	75	7	24	31	Josh Anderson	64	18	10	28

Joel Farabee gets another look at center on Thursday night. Farabee has played a few games at the center position down the stretch, so this is another chance for him to see if he can be productive there.

Ryan Poehling has just eight goals and 16 points on the season, but has three goals in the last five games.

Martin Jones gets the start for the Flyers. Jones made 24 saves on 28 shots in his last start on Tuesday against Toronto. Jones has lost three straight starts dating back to April 7.

Carey Price gets the start for Montreal. This is just Price's third start of the season since returning from injury. Price has allowed two goals in each of the first two starts, but the Canadiens have yet to provide him with a goal offensively.

Projected Lineups

Flyers Scratches: Nick Seeler (injury), Cam Atkinson (injury), Carter Hart (injury), Cam York (injury), Rasmus Ristolainen (injury), Patrick Brown (injury), Kevin Connauton (injury)

Canadiens Scratches: Paul Byron (injury), Jake Allen (injury), Justin Barron (injury), Jonathan Drouin (injury), Jordan Harris (healthy), William Lagesson (healthy), Corey Schueneman (healthy), Laurent Dauphin (healthy), Joel Armia (healthy), Michael Pezzetta (suspended)

Lineup Notes

Flyers: Linus Högberg makes his NHL debut, up with the Flyers on emergency call-up with Kevin Connauton going down with injury. No other changes are expected.
Canadiens: The Canadiens recalled Rafael Harvey-Pinard ahead of Thursday's game and he is expected to be in the lineup.

Game Notes

Power Play: Flyers (32nd), Canadiens (31st)
Penalty Kill: Flyers (27th), Canadiens (28th)
Recent History vs. Canadiens
- March 13, 2022 – Canadiens 4, Flyers 3 (F/OT) (at PHI)
- Dec. 16, 2021 – Canadiens 3, Flyers 2 (F/SO) (at MTL)
Flyers Leaders vs. Canadiens
- Joel Farabee – 4 GP, 1 G, 2 A, 3 P
- Travis Konecny – 13 GP, 5 G, 4 A, 9 P
- James van Riemsdyk – 41 GP, 16 G, 11 A, 27 P
- Martin Jones – 9 GP, 8-1-0, 1.89 GAA, .937 SV%