Canadiens at Flyers preview

CANADIENS (20-21-7) at FLYERS (25-16-6)
7 p.m. ET; ESPN+, NBCSP, TSN2, RDS, NHL.TV

Goalie Alex Lyon will make his season debut for the Flyers, who have won two straight after going 1-4-1 in their previous six games. Lyon was recalled from Lehigh Valley of the American Hockey League on Wednesday with goalie Carter Hart out 2-3 weeks because of an abdominal strain. Brian Elliott made 30 saves in Philadelphia's 4-3 overtime win at the St. Louis Blues on Wednesday.
Goalie Carey Price will start for the Canadiens, 2-1-0 in their past three games after going 0-7-1 in their previous eight. Charlie Lindgren made 24 saves in Montreal's 4-1 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday.

Players to watch

Canadiens forward Ilya Kovalchuk has five points (one goal, four assists) in six games since signing with Montreal on Jan. 3.
Flyers center Sean Couturier has 11 points (three goals, eight assists) in the past seven games.

They said it

"It's a do-or-die game because now we're, I think, nine points behind [Philadelphia]. … and it's a really big hill, but it's unacceptable the way we played tonight." -- Canadiens forward Ilya Kovalchuk after Montreal's 4-1 loss Wednesday
"We elevated our game in the last little bit, knowing you have to bring your 'A' game. I think we have to find that consistency on a night-to-night basis. This gives us a lot of confidence." -- Flyers goalie Brian Elliott after Philadelphia's 4-3 overtime win Wednesday

Canadiens projected lineup

Tomas Tatar -- Phillip Danault -- Ilya Kovalchuk
Artturi Lehkonen -- Max Domi -- Nick Suzuki
Ryan Poehling -- Jesperi Kotkaniemi -- Joel Armia
Nick Cousins -- Nate Thompson -- Dale Weise
Ben Chiarot -- Shea Weber
Marco Scandella -- Jeff Petry
Brett Kulak -- Victor Mete
Carey Price
Charlie Lindgren
Scratched: Matthew Peca, Jordan Weal, Cale Fleury
Injured: Brendan Gallagher (upper body), Paul Byron (upper body), Jonathan Drouin (wrist)

Flyers projected lineup

Claude Giroux -- Kevin Hayes -- Travis Konecny
Michael Raffl -- Sean Couturier -- Jakub Voracek
James van Riemsdyk -- Scott Laughton -- Nicolas Aube-Kubel
oel Farabee
-- Connor Bunnaman -- Tyler Pitlick
Ivan Provorov -- Matt Niskanen
Travis Sanheim -- Philippe Myers
Robert Hagg -- Mark Friedman
Alex Lyon
Brian Elliott
Scratched: None
Injured: Carter Hart (abdominal strain), Nolan Patrick (migraines), Oskar Lindblom (Ewing's sarcoma), Justin Braun (groin), Shayne Gostisbehere (knee)

Status report

Neither team had a morning skate. … Armia will return after missing the past 11 games because of a hand injury. … Farabee, a forward, was recalled from Lehigh Valley on Thursday. The Flyers loaned forward Chris Stewart to their AHL affiliate.

Stat pack

Kovalchuk has 51 points (25 goals, 26 assists) in 51 games against Philadelphia in his 13-year NHL career. … Voracek has 29 points (seven goals, 22 assists) in 30 games against Montreal.