NHL Live was joined by Phoenix Coyotes goaltender Mike Smith, who will compete for the Canada at the 2014 Sochi Olympics.

"I was pretty excited and very honored," Smith said. "I heard it's going to be a lot different from Vancouver. Obviously it's not the Olympics in your home country, but it will definitely be a new experience for me and probably a lot of guys, and I'm looking forward to it."

PHILADELPHIA -- The last time the Montreal Canadiens were in Philadelphia was Dec. 12. The Flyers were in their first game at home after a six-game road trip and it was the back end of a back-to-back.

When the teams play Wednesday it's the same situation for the Flyers, who are in their first game back after a six-game road trip that concluded with a win Tuesday at the New Jersey Devils.

“The last time we played Montreal was the exact same situation,” Flyers forward Wayne Simmonds said. “We kept our game simple, we got pucks deep, we grinded their [defense] down and we played a strong 60 minutes. I think we’re going to try to the exact same thing [Wednesday].”

Doing the exact same thing would give the Flyers 10 straight wins at home. Helping that effort would be another strong game from forward Scott Hartnell, who is riding a career-best eight-game point-scoring streak.

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PHILADELPHIA -- The Philadelphia Flyers' Claude Giroux and the Montreal Canadiens' Daniel Briere were celebrated as league champions on Wednesday. Well, the German league.

Giroux and Briere played for Eisbaren Berlin during the lockout last season and the team went on to win the championship of the DEL, Germany's top-tier league.

The players were honored by members of the team's fan club. About 20 fans arrived in Philadelphia wearing custom jerseys that had Briere's name and number on one sleeve and Giroux's name and on number on the other sleeve. They also wore scarves with the players' faces on them.

DENVER -- The Colorado Avalanche will be without right wing Ryan O'Reilly for the first time this season Wednesday when they play the Ottawa Senators at Pepsi Center.

O'Reilly sustained a left shoulder injury Monday in the Avalanche's 4-3 loss to the Calgary Flames. John Mitchell will take his place on a line with Gabriel Landeskog and Paul Stastny. Rookie Nathan MacKinnon will move to left wing with Matt Duchene and Jamie McGinn.

The Avalanche also will need to shuffle the third and fourth lines. Marc-Andre Cliche will center the third line with Cody McLeod and Maxime Talbot, while Brad Malone will center the fourth line with David Van Der Gulik, who was recalled from Lake Erie of the American Hockey League, and Patrick Bordeleau.

Colorado is 3-1-1 in the first five games of a seven-game homestand and coming off that disappointing loss to the Flames.

"You always want to bounce back from a game like we played against Calgary," coach Patrick Roy said. "It will be important for us to finish the homestand on the right foot. We want to play well tonight, there's no doubt about it. We're playing a team that won their last four games and they're coming here with a lot of confidence."

CHICAGO -- A season after making himself a big factor in the Chicago Blackhawks winning the 2013 Stanley Cup and earning a sizable new contract, Bryan Bickell is now searching for that magic.

Instead of causing havoc for opposing goalies and defensemen, the 6-foot-4, 233-pound forward is spending more time sitting on the bench of late, coming to a head this past Sunday when he watched the third period and overtime of a 3-2 shootout loss against the San Jose Sharks.

"Well, it's not good," Bickell said of logging just 5:20 and nine shifts. "You want to be out there to help your team win, especially last game in a close game, to have that goal or a hit to change momentum. But I've learned from the experience and I've got to bounce back from it."

He'll get a chance Wednesday night at United Center against the New York Rangers (8 p.m. ET, NBCSN, TSN2). Prior to the season, Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville hoped Bickell might approach the 30-goal plateau, but those expectations quickly tempered after a slow start. Bickell, who has six goals and eight points in 31 games, shifted from his top-line spot to his more familiar role at left wing on the third line.

The Philadelphia Flyers are back in the groove, and Scott Hartnell's resurgence is a big reason why.

He's become a mainstay on a line with Brayden Schenn and Wayne Simmonds, and the Flyers have benefited from the developing continuity of that secondary-scoring group. The Flyers are 21-10-4 since their 1-7-0 start and have been especially hot of late, winning eight of their past 10 games.

Hartnell's production has had a direct correlation to his team's sizzling stretch, as he's put together a career-long eight-game point streak (four goals, five assists) with points in nine of 10 games.

And while Philly's gritty second-liners continue to take the League by storm, two of its three components remain available in over half of Yahoo fantasy leagues. Hartnell (47 percent owned) and Schenn (40 percent) are there for the taking in most shallow formats, while Wayne Simmonds (68 percent) also warrants more ownership than he currently holds.

PHILADELPHIA -- Montreal Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin said he expects there to be lots of internal competition to replace the production supplied by forward Alex Galchenyuk.

Galchenyuk, fourth on the team with 10 goals and 23 points, will miss six weeks with a broken hand sustained during a game Jan. 6 against the Florida Panthers.

Bergevin, speaking during the Canadiens' optional morning skate Wednesday prior to their game at Wells Fargo Center against the Philadelphia Flyers (7:30 p.m. ET, TSN), said he will look at the current roster for someone to step into Galchenyuk's role before investigating any trades.

"We always look within first," Bergevin said. "A player like Alex you don't, unless you want to give up the house, the farm, to replace him, it's impossible. You look at Tampa Bay when they lost [Steven] Stamkos … he's not Stamkos but I'm just saying. [Phoenix Coyotes captain] Shane Doan went out for a while. You don't replace these players. You just give more guys ice time and they have to come through for you."

PHILADELPHIA -- The Montreal Canadiens had eight players named to their respective countries' rosters for the 2014 Sochi Olympics, the second-most of any team in the Eastern Conference and tied for the fourth-most of any NHL team.

Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin sees that as a point of pride, but he won't take a lot of credit for it. Instead, he points to Trevor Timmins, the team's director of amateur scouting.

Timmins and his staff were responsible for drafting four of the eight players picked -- forward Max Pacioretty (United States); defensemen Alexei Emelin (Russia) and P.K. Subban (Canada); and goaltender Carey Price (Canada). Forward Tomas Plekanec (Czech Republic) and defenseman Andrei Markov (Russia) were picked by the Canadiens prior to Timmins joining the organization in 2002. The only players not drafted by the Canadiens to make an Olympic team were backup goalie Peter Budaj (Slovakia), signed as a free agent in 2011, and defenseman Raphael Diaz (Switzerland), a free-agent signee who never was drafted and made his NHL debut with the Canadiens in the 2011-12 season.

"[Six] of those guys were Montreal draft picks and most of them were drafted by Trevor's staff," Bergevin said. "Our drafting, from Day 1 when I got here, was the way to build a team. This shows we are on the right track."

NEW YORK -- Dallas Stars defenseman Brenden Dillon predicts Canada will use a line of Jamie Benn, Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry at the 2014 Sochi Olympics. He feels for any defensemen who would have to match up against a trio like that.

"I think that line would be pretty deadly," said Dillon, who visited the NHL offices Tuesday shortly after Canada announced its Olympic roster that included Benn, the Stars captain. "Just from playing against those two [Perry and Getzlaf] on their own and adding a third guy in there who can skate just as well, make plays just as well and is just as hard to handle down low … they should be OK."

As a defenseman, how would Dillon try to handle a line as big and skilled as one that features Benn on the left, Getzlaf in the middle and Perry on the right?

"Try to keep the puck away from them as much as you can, stay on offense," he said. "Even then those guys are up there in takeaways. Those guys, they're so good and they're two right-handers and a left-handed shot tossing it in there. Perry and Getzlaf, their chemistry says something already, and then Benn, playing with him for two years now, I mean he deserves all the accolades he's starting to get. One thing in Dallas is he's flying under the radar, but I think this is so good for him."

NHL Live with Steve Mears and E.J. Hradek, at 5 p.m. ET on NHL Network, sets up a three-game night of NHL action. It's Wednesday Night Rivalry, this week featuring the New York Rangers at the defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks, and NBCSN analyst Pierre McGuire joins us from the Arena Cam at United Center to preview this Original Six matchup.

Phoenix Coyotes goaltender Mike Smith was named to Canada's roster for the 2014 Sochi Olympics on Tuesday. He'll join the program on the phone to talk about the exciting news as well as the play of the Coyotes. We'll also talk to New York Islanders forward Thomas Vanek.

This week's EJ5 will focus on players who should be going to Sochi.

Remember to submit your #AskEJ questions through Twitter via @NHLNetwork or @EJHradek_NHL, and join the conversation on Twitter as we ask you to pick the game of the night.