Flyers at Canadiens
The Philadelphia Flyers have put themselves in a comfortable spot in the Eastern Conference playoff race with an 11-game point streak, and their goals have become loftier as they prepare to visit the Montreal Canadiens on Monday. The Flyers, who have won five straight and gone 9-0-2 during their impressive run, can take over first place in the Metropolitan Division with a victory and a loss by Washington in Columbus.
“We always believed in ourselves, and we know we have a good team here,” Philadelphia rookie defenseman Robert Hagg told Philly.com after scoring in Saturday's 5-3 win at Ottawa. “Obviously, we’ve proved that in the last couple months. Hopefully, we can keep it going and make a push for the first spot and get into the playoffs with a good feeling.” The Flyers will have to snap a dubious streak on Monday as they have lost six straight games in Montreal, which has won just once in its last eight overall contests (1-4-3). The Canadiens have earned points in three straight (1-0-2) and took league-leading Tampa Bay to a shootout on Saturday before suffering a 4-3 setback. “We maintained a good rhythm from start to finish,” Canadiens coach Claude Julien told reporters. “There were some defensive mistakes that led to good scoring chances on both sides. … Happy with the overall effort.”
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Network, NBCS Philadelphia, TSN2, RDS (Montreal)
ABOUT THE FLYERS (33-19-10): Rookie Nolan Patrick, the second overall pick in last summer’s draft, is warming up with a goal in four consecutive games and at least one point in five straight to support the team’s red-hot scoring quartet. Captain Claude Giroux leads the club with 74 points, collecting three goals and five assists in his last four contests, while Jakub Voracek has registered an NHL-best 56 assists and notched four points in a three-game span. Sean Couturier has recorded 11 points in his last 11 games and defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere has collected 17 in 12 contests this month.
ABOUT THE CANADIENS (23-29-9): Captain Max Pacioretty, who could be traded before Monday's deadline, snapped his 11-game goal-scoring drought on Saturday and leads one of the league’s worst offenses with 37 points. Brendan Gallagher has scored a team-high 21 goals and sits one point behind Pacioretty while Alex Galchenyuk is next with 34 points but has not tallied in 13 straight games. Montreal traded 35-year-old Czech Tomas Plekanec, who had been with the team since making his NHL debut in 2003-04, to Toronto on Sunday for two prospects and a draft pick.
OVERTIME
1. Montreal D Jeff Petry has recorded two goals and two assists in his last four games to increase his career-high total to 30 points.
2. Philadelphia D Brandon Manning has registered two multi-point performances over his last four contests.
3. The Flyers have won three straight meetings with the Canadiens, including a pair this month.