Could Montreal Be In Over Their Heads Versus The Flyers?
The Philadelphia Flyers are arguably the hottest team entering the First Round of the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Entering Round Robin Play, the Flyers went 3-0 versus the teams that most people believed were the best of the Eastern Conference and instead it was Philadelphia that locked in the Number One Overall Seed in the East. The Flyers have proven to be one of the most dangerous teams in the NHL Playoffs thanks to their depth on offense and their strong play on defense. Philadelphia allowed only Three Goals over the three games while scoring a total of 11 Goals, showcasing the type of defense and support they can give their talented young Goaltender Carter Hart. The Flyers got contributions on offensive from Scott Laughton, Nate Thompson, Travis Sanheim, Nicolas Aube-Kubel, Tyler Pitlick, and Joel Farabee; None of those players were in the top eight on the team this year in Points. Philadelphia will face the Montreal Canadiens in the First Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
SiriusXM NHL Network Radio Host Scott Laughlin joined GameNight with Josh Hennig on Monday and explained why the Montreal Canadiens may be in trouble entering their series versus the Philadelphia Flyers:
"The Flyers got a match-up with a Montreal team that is ripe for the taking; I know they beat the Pittsburgh Penguins but truth be told the Penguins are getting to be a little bit long in the tooth....This will be interesting because you got Carter Hart and his idol growing up as a kid was Carey Price, so he's going to be looking down at Carey Price the entirety of this series and I think he will be okay. Carter Hart has Price-like tendencies already, people have made note of that over the last couple years. Philadelphia has got that great mix of veteran players and young players who have stepped up- I think the great thing about the Round Robin (for the Flyers) was the fact that the guys that drive the ship now, guys like (Travis) Konecny and (Sean) Couturier, didn't need to necessarily carry the freight in that Round Robin. All that depth of scoring, led by Scott Laughton, really came to the (forefront) and I think that is the best news of all for the Flyers right now that they can win the top seed and yet still have their star players perhaps not be at peak performance. They are going to be at peak performance against a Montreal team that I think is quite frankly in over their heads here in this best of seven series."
Check out what Laughlin had to say about how the Flyers match-up with the rest of the Eastern Conference teams, why Carter Hart is the Goaltender that Flyers fans have been waiting for, perspective on the New York Rangers winning the NHL Draft Lottery, and more.