Early call for Canadiens-Flyers on Friday

The Montreal Canadiens and Philadelphia Flyers will get the last weekend of pre-Olympic play off to an early start on Friday.

The teams will begin the front end of a home-and-home series when they face off at 6 p.m. at the Wachovia Center (RDS in Canada). Afterwards, both will fly to Montreal for a rematch at the Bell Centre on Saturday.

The Flyers have to hope the early start will help them against the Habs, who've made Philadelphia their home-away-from home -- they've won six in a row at the Wachovia Center and are 8-0-1 in their last nine visits. Montreal is coming off a 6-5 overtime win over Washington on Wednesday, while the Flyers won 3-2 in OT at New Jersey the same night.

There are six other games on the schedule, including a pair that start at 7 p.m. ET.

Nashville completes a tour of the New York metropolitan area with a visit to New Jersey. The Preds are 1-0-1 so far, including a 2-1 win against the Rangers on Wednesday.

Vancouver, coming off a 3-0 shutout at Florida on Thursday, will go from the warmth of the Sunshine State to the chill of an Ohio winter when the Canucks visit Columbus. The Blue Jackets are 3-0-0 since changing coaches last week and blanked San Jose 3-0 on Wednesday.

At 7:30 p.m. ET, Pittsburgh hosts the struggling Rangers. The Penguins won their last game by beating the Islanders 3-1 on Wednesday.

A half-hour later, the Toronto Maple Leafs become the first team to finish up when they visit St. Louis, while Atlanta travels to Minnesota. In the final game of the night, the Phoenix Coyotes, coming off a 3-2 win at Minnesota on Wednesday, visit Colorado. The Avs rallied for a 4-3 overtime win over the Thrashers on Wednesday night.

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