Preview: Flyers at Canadiens

FLYERS (6-5-1) at CANADIENS (9-1-1)
7 p.m. ET; CITY, TVA Sports, TCH-PH, NHL.TV

Flyers team scope

Philadelphia Flyers center Claude Giroux has sparked the offense with two goals and 11 assists in 12 games. All of his points came during a 10-game point streak that ended Thursday, though the captain's shootout goal helped secure a 3-2 win at the New York Islanders that extended Philadelphia's winning streak to three. "The team is playing well, and when the players surrounding you are playing well, it makes your job that much easier," Giroux said. Defenseman Michael Del Zotto will play his first game since Feb. 13. Del Zotto injured his knee during the preseason after recovering from season-ending wrist surgery, which he had in February. "It's been a while," Philadelphia coach Dave Hakstol said. "It will be nice to have him back in the lineup and I think like any player coming back in the lineup he just has to come in and keep his game simple and do his part. And I think that's a real good recipe for success for him to be able to help our team tonight."

Canadiens team scope

Despite their 10-0 loss at the Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday, the Montreal Canadiens remain atop the NHL standings with 19 points, three more than the New York Rangers and Pittsburgh Penguins. Goaltender Carey Price was rested in Columbus; backup Al Montoya stayed in the game for all 10 goals in Montreal's first regulation loss. Price has won his six starts, including a 42-save shutout in a 3-0 win against the Vancouver Canucks on Wednesday that reduced his goals-against average to 1.17 and increased his save percentage to .964. The Canadiens did not have a morning skate Saturday. Captain Max Pacioretty said after the loss in Columbus that the Canadiens' response will be a big test. "It's tough to shake it off when you get scored on that many times," Pacioretty said. "We'll see what type of group we are."

Flyers projected lineup

Michael Raffl -- Claude Giroux -- Wayne Simmonds
Travis Konecny -- Sean Couturier -- Jakub Voracek
Matt Read -- Brayden Schenn -- Dale Weise
Chris VandeVelde -- Pierre-Edouard Bellemare -- Roman Lyubimov
Shayne Gostisbehere -- Michael Del Zotto
Ivan Provorov -- Mark Streit
Brandon Manning -- Radko Gudas
Michal Neuvirth
Steve Mason
Scratched: Nick Schultz, Nick Cousins
Injured: Andrew MacDonald (lower body), Boyd Gordon (upper body), Scott Laughton (lower body)

Canadiens projected lineup

Alexander Radulov -- Alex Galchenyuk -- Brendan Gallagher
Max Pacioretty -- David Desharnais -- Andrew Shaw
Artturi Lehkonen -- Tomas Plekanec -- Paul Byron
Phillip Danault -- Torrey Mitchell -- Brian Flynn
Alexei Emelin -- Shea Weber
Andrei Markov -- Jeff Petry
Nathan Beaulieu -- Greg Pateryn
Carey Price
Al Montoya
Scratched: Daniel Carr, Joel Hanley
Injured: Zach Redmond (broken foot)

Status report

Read did not take part in the morning skate but Hakstol said he had a maintenance day and expects him to be ready to play. ... Neuvirth will make his fourth straight start. "He's playing pretty well," Hakstol said. "He's done a good job in the previous starts that he's had and continues to earn those starts. I think guys have good confidence in him and the biggest thing is he's played well over the last stretch here." ... Schultz is expected to be left out of the lineup for the fifth time in seven games. ... Montreal coach Michel Therrien said he kept Montoya in for the entire game in Columbus because he wanted to save Price for Saturday. "That was a really tough decision to make," Therrien said Friday.

Who's hot

Gudas has one goal and three assists in his past four games. ... Streit has a goal and two assists in two games. ... Price has not allowed more than two goals in his past eight games.