Canadiens at Flyers
The Montreal Canadiens' top line of captain Max Pacioretty, Alexander Radulov and Phillip Danault are showing signs of coming together as a group while the Philadelphia Flyers quickly came apart at the seams in their first game back from the NHL All-Star break. Fresh off recording his second hat trick of the season and sixth career, Pacioretty (team-leading 24 goals) looks to continue his scoring surge on Thursday when the Atlantic Division-leading Canadiens visit the Flyers in the season series finale.
"It's an honor for me to play with Pacioretty and Radulov," the 23-year-old Danault said. "One has a special kind of skill, and the other scores like there's no tomorrow." Radulov collected his team-leading 11th multi-point performance with two of his club-best 27 assists in a 5-2 victory over Buffalo on Tuesday and has four points (one goal, three assists) as Montreal skated to a pair of wins over Philadelphia earlier in the season. While the Canadiens were on the positive end of a hat trick, the Flyers watched as Carolina rookie Sebastian Aho notched his first in a 5-1 decision on Tuesday. Defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere set up Brayden Schenn's 100th goal in that contest and also had a goal and an assist in a 5-4 setback at Montreal on Nov. 5.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, NHL.TV, Sportsnet East, RDS (Montreal), CSN Philadelphia
ABOUT THE CANADIENS (30-14-7): Two days after seeing David Desharnais (knee) and defenseman Andrei Markov (groin) return to the fold, Montreal is expected to get even healthier on Thursday with the potential return of Alex Galchenyuk. The 22-year-old, who has missed three games due to a right knee injury, was back at practice on Wednesday and likely will join Desharnais and Andrew Shaw on the second line. "It's unbelievable how we did it," Shaw said of the team's resolve in the face of injury. "It shows the character and depth we have on this team. It's a good thing moving forward. Everyone's getting healthy and we can get back to what we were doing at the start of the year when we went on that 10-game win streak."
ABOUT THE FLYERS (25-20-6): Captain Claude Giroux was quick to compare the start of the team's five-game homestand on Thursday to a critical stretch last season at the Wells Fargo Center, during which the team won five of six outings to ignite its playoff surge. "We were successful and that kind of put us back in a playoff spot," the 29-year-old Giroux told Philly.com. "Hopefully, we can do the same here." Giroux, who scored and set up a goal in the first two meetings with Montreal, has been limited to just a goal and an assist in his last six games after mustering seven assists in his previous seven contests.
OVERTIME
1. Montreal G Carey Price has won both encounters with Philadelphia this season, but carries just a 6-5-2 mark away from home into Thursday's tilt.
2. Flyers G Steve Mason owns a 4-1-0 career mark with a 1.79 goals-against average in five appearances versus the Canadiens.
3. Montreal D Jeff Petry is expected to return to lineup after a one-game absence due to illness.