Flyers at Canadiens
Positive moments have been few and far between this season for the Philadelphia Flyers, who look to ride the momentum of back-to-back hat tricks into Saturday's game at the Bell Centre against the Montreal Canadiens. James van Riemsdyk and Sean Couturier each had a three-goal performance this week as Philadelphia has won three of four on the heels of their season-high eight-game skid (0-6-2).
"(The hat trick was) not something I was thinking about. The pucks find their way in. It's nice to have them," said Couturier, whose three goals in Wednesday's 4-3 victory versus Boston boosted his season total to a club-best 19. The 26-year-old has scored four goals and set up five others during his five-game point streak heading into a tilt with Montreal, against which he collected three assists during Philadelphia's three-game sweep last season. The Canadiens have outscored their foes by a robust 15-4 margin during their season-high four-game winning streak after posting a 4-1 victory versus Columbus on Friday. Tomas Tatar, who joined Joel Armia in tallying twice against the Blue Jackets, scored for the first time since netting a pair in a 5-3 win over Florida on Dec. 28.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, ESPN-Plus, NBCS Philadelphia, CBC, Sportsnet East, Sportsnet Ontario, TVAS (Montreal)
ABOUT THE FLYERS (18-23-6): The shining light in Philadelphia's dismal season unquestionably has been prize rookie Carter Hart, who returns to Montreal for the first time since the gold medal game of the 2017 World Junior Championship. "Montreal is a great city and a great hockey city. They are very passionate about the game and about their team. It's going be fun to go there," the 20-year-old Hart said. Hart, who made a career-high 39 saves versus the Bruins, has struggled away from Philadelphia -- posting an 0-3-0 mark with a 3.46 goals-against average and .889 save percentage.
ABOUT THE CANADIENS (27-17-5): Hart likely won't have a chance to face one of his favorite goaltenders in Carey Price, as the former Vezina and Hart Trophy winner turned aside 33 shots to win his third straight start on Friday. Backup Antti Niemi likely will get the nod versus Philadelphia after he made a career-best 52 saves in Tuesday's 5-1 romp over Florida. The 35-year-old Finn has stopped 127 of 132 shots during his three-start winning streak.
OVERTIME
1. Montreal C Max Domi set up a pair of goals versus Columbus to extend his point streak to three games (one goal, three assists) while D Shea Weber recorded his second straight multi-point performance with a pair of assists.
2. Flyers captain Claude Giroux, who leads the team in assists (38) and points (52), scored a goal and set up three others versus the Canadiens last season.
3. Montreal C Paul Byron will serve the second contest of a three-game suspension for his hit on Florida D MacKenzie Weegar.