Flyers-Canadiens: Game 48 Preview

Two games this week for the Flyers have required extra time, but ended in thrilling fashion. A daunting schedule that included four teams in the Top 6 in the NHL standings ended with the Flyers posting a 3-1-0 record.

Perhaps the bigger test for the Flyers now is maintaining that success at home against teams out of the playoff picture. Thursday night brings one of those challenges, as the Flyers take on the Montreal Canadiens.

Game time is 7 p.m.

Team Leaders

Philadelphia Flyers	GP	G	A	P	Montreal Canadiens	GP	G	A	P
Sean Couturier	47	13	28	41	Tomas Tatar	48	16	24	40
Travis Konecny	43	15	25	40	Max Domi	48	12	21	33
Jake Voracek	47	9	28	37	Phillip Danault	48	12	20	32
Claude Giroux	47	13	19	32	Shea Weber	48	12	20	32
Kevin Hayes	47	14	12	26	Brendan Gallagher	41	15	17	32

Player to Watch
11 Travis Konecny	14 Nick Suzuki
Last 5 Games: 3 G, 1 A, 4 P, -2	Last 5 Games: 2 G, 1 A, 3 P, -2

Travis Konecny has been heating up of late with goals in four of his last seven games. The Flyers All-Star regained the team lead in goals with his 15th of the season on Wednesday night after going through a seven-game goalless drought.

Nick Suzuki has emerged as a power-play threat for the Canadiens, scoring a pair of power-play goals over the last five games. Suzuki also had a five-game stretch where he posted eight points in late December.

Projected Goalie Matchup
34 Alex Lyon	31 Carey Price
0 GP, 0-0-0, -.-- GAA, .--- SV%	38 GP, 18-16-4, 2.87 GAA, .907 SV%

Alex Lyon has been confirmed as the Flyers starting goalie for Thursday night after being called up to serve as backup for Wednesday's game in St. Louis. Lyon makes his 2019-20 season debut. He has a 4-3-1 record with a 3.05 GAA and .894 save percentage in 13 career NHL games.

Carey Price will face the Flyers for the second time this season in Philadelphia. He suffered a loss in overtime on Nov. 7 despite making 40 saves on 43 shots. Price has been as good as it gets in his last two games. He posted a 31-save shutout against Calgary on Monday and made 41 saves on 42 shots in a win against Ottawa last Saturday.

Flyers Projected Lineup

Injuries: Carter Hart (lower right abdominal, 2-to-3 weeks), Shayne Gostisbehere (knee, 3 weeks), Justin Braun (groin, out until All-Star break), Nolan Patrick (migrane disorder, out indefinitely), Oskar Lindblom (Ewing's sarcoma, out for season)

Left Wing	Center	Right Wing
28 Claude Giroux	13 Kevin Hayes	11 Travis Konecny
12 Michael Raffl	14 Sean Couturier	93 Jake Voracek
25 James van Riemsdyk	21 Scott Laughton	62 Nicolas Aube-Kubel
49 Joel Farabee	82 Connor Bunnaman	18 Tyler Pitlick
Defense
9 Ivan Provorov	15 Matt Niskanen
6 Travis Sanheim	5 Phil Myers
8 Robert Hagg	59 Mark Friedman
Goalie
34 Alex Lyon	37 Brian Elliott

Lineup Notes

Chris Stewart cleared waivers and was sent to the Phantoms, allowing the Flyers to call up Joel Farabee again. He returns to the lineup for Thursday.

Canadiens Projected Lineup

Injuries: Jonathan Drouin, Joel Armia, Paul Byron, Brendan Gallagher, Noah Juulsen

Scratches: Dale Weise, Brett Kulak

Left Wing	Center	Right Wing
90 Tomas Tatar	24 Phillip Danault	17 Ilya Kovalchuk
62 Artturi Lehkonen	13 Max Domi	14 Nick Suzuki
25 Ryan Poehling	15 Jesperi Kotkaniemi	21 Nick Cousins
63 Matthew Peca	44 Nate Thompson	43 Jordan Weal
Defense
8 Ben Chiarot	6 Shea Weber
28 Marco Scandella	26 Jeff Petry
53 Victor Mete	20 Cale Fleury
Goalie
31 Carey Price	39 Charlie Lindgren

Game Notes

Power Play: Flyers (T-18th), Canadiens (T-12th)
Penalty Kill: Flyers (11th), Canadiens (23th)
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)

Where to Watch
TV: NBC Sports Philadelphia
Radio: 97.5 The Fanatic/97.3 ESPN

Kevin Durso is Flyers insider for 97.3 ESPN and Flyers editor for SportsTalkPhilly.com. Follow him on Twitter @Kevin_Durso.