Canadiens at Flyers
THE STORY:
The Montreal Canadiens and Philadelphia Flyers have plenty to be thankful for as they assess their standing prior to Friday's game in the City of Brotherly Love. On one side, the Canadiens have rebounded after limping out to the worst start in 70 years by posting a 9-4-1 mark in their last 13 contests. On the other, the Flyers don't appear to have lost a step after jettisoning former captain Mike Richards and All-Star Jeff Carter to Los Angeles and Columbus, respectively. Montreal and Philadelphia are coming off victories that required a bit of rallying against struggling opponents. The Canadiens defeated the Carolina Hurricanes for the second time in a week with a 4-3 shootout victory in Raleigh, N.C. The Flyers snapped a modest two-game skid by defeating the New York Islanders for the 25th time in 27 games - this one a 4-3 overtime victory on Wednesday. "What I'm most impressed with was the fight, the resiliency to keep coming and to stay with it," Philadelphia coach Peter Laviolette said. "We got some real good performances out of guys in the second and third periods." Case in point is Danny Briere, who netted the game-tying and winning goals for Philadelphia.
TV: 3 p.m. ET, RDS, CSP
ABOUT THE CANADIENS (10-9-3): Travis Moen is hardly a goal-scoring machine but he netted his seventh of the season and 50th of his career on Wednesday. The 29-year-old is closing in on his previous single-season high of 11 goals, set during the 2006-07 campaign when he playing for Anaheim. Moen, however, has yet to score a goal in 13 career games versus the Flyers. Montreal has successfully killed off its last 29 shorthanded situations.
ABOUT THE FLYERS (12-6-3): Jaromir Jagr admitted he returned to the ice a bit too soon from his groin injury. The 39-year-old exited Wednesday's game in the second period and has already been ruled out of the team's next two contests. "We got two games and then five days off," Jagr said. "I think I’m not going to play those two games and make sure when I come back I want to come back strong."
OVERTIME: 1. Montreal had dropped five of its previous six contests to Philadelphia before skating to a 5-1 triumph at the Bell Centre on Oct. 26.
2. Ilya Bryzgalov was pulled against the Islanders after permitting three goals on nine shots. The Russian also struggled against the Canadiens last month to fall to 0-3-1 in four career starts versus Montreal.