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 FlyersGPGAPMontreal CanadiensGPGAP
Cam Atkinson73232750Nick Suzuki77203757
Travis Konecny74143549Cole Caufield62182038
Joel Farabee58171734Rem Pitlick61132033
James van Riemsdyk77211334Mike Hoffman62111829
Travis Sanheim7572431Josh Anderson64181028

Players To Watch 4-21

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.

Goalie Matchup 4-21

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 Line Combos 4-21

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

Opponent Line Combos 4-21

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%

Where to Watch
TV: NBC Sports Philadelphia
Radio: Flyers Broadcast Network

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

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