Flyers vs. Canadiens playoff preview

Goaltending matchup between rookie Hart, veteran Price will be key in Eastern Conference First Round

By NHL.com @NHLdotcom

August 10, 2020

The first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs features 16 teams in eight best-of-7 series, which start Tuesday.

Today, NHL.com previews the series between the Philadelphia Flyers and Montreal Canadiens, which will be played at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, the hub city for the Eastern Conference.

No. 1 Philadelphia Flyers vs. No. 8 Montreal Canadiens

Flyers:3-0-0 in round-robin; 41-21-7, .645 points percentage in regular season

Canadiens:3-1 to win qualifier series against Pittsburgh Penguins; 31-31-9, .500 points percentage in regular season

Season series: PHI 2-1-0; MTL 1-0-2

Game 1 is Wednesday (8 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, SN, TVAS)

The Canadiens may have been the lowest-seeded team in the Stanley Cup Qualifiers, but the Flyers are not taking them for granted in the Eastern Conference First Round.

"They just played a big series, big win, they were underdogs there," Flyers defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere said. "They're a good team. You can't take anyone lightly in this league. You've got to be ready at the drop of the puck. I think for us it's a good matchup and it'll be a fun series."

The Canadiens, who were the No. 12 seed in the Qualifiers, upset the Penguins, the No. 5 seed, in four games thanks in large part to goalie Carey Price, who had a 1.67 goals-against average and .947 save percentage (seven goals on 133 shots) in the series.

Montreal looked like a different team than the one that struggled down the stretch in the regular season. The Canadiens had seven players score at least one goal, including two from Jesperi Kotkaniemi, who was sent down to Laval of the American Hockey League for the final 19 games of the regular season.

"Everybody was kind of counting us [out], so of course it feels good to get to win this series," said forward Artturi Lehkonen, who scored the game-winning goal in a 2-0 victory in Game 4. "But it was one series, and now we've got to enjoy this for a moment and then move on."

They will move on to face a Flyers team that picked up right where it left off when the season was paused, defeating the Boston Bruins, Washington Capitals and Tampa Bay Lightning by a combined score of 11-3 in the round-robin.

The Flyers and Canadiens have met six previous times in the postseason, with each team winning three series. Philadelphia has won the past two, including in five games in the 2010 Eastern Conference Final.

Philadelphia takes on Montreal to open the playoffs

Game breakers

Flyers:Sean Couturier was second on the Flyers with 59 points (22 goals, 37 assists) in 69 games this season. The center was voted a finalist for the Selke Trophy, awarded to best defensive forward in the NHL after he led the League in face-off winning percentage (59.6 percent), ranked first among Flyers forwards in ice time per game (19:50) and shorthanded ice time (140:29), and led Philadelphia with a shot attempts percentage of 56.1 percent. Couturier's strong play continued in the round-robin, including two assists in a 4-1 win against the Lightning on Saturday that clinched the No. 1 seed in the East.

Canadiens:After being kept off the score sheet in the first two games against the Penguins, Shea Weber had three points (one goal, two assists) in a 4-3 win in Game 3 and scored an empty-net goal in a 2-0 victory in Game 4 to help close out the series. The Canadiens captain led their defensemen with 15 goals in the regular season, and he led Montreal in ice time per game (24:00).

Goaltending

Flyers:Carter Hart allowed two goals on 59 shots in two starts in the round-robin, a 4-1 win against the Bruins in his NHL postseason debut on Aug. 2 and the 4-1 victory against the Lightning. The 21-year-old was at his best late against Tampa Bay, making 11 of his 23 saves during the third period. Hart looked as calm and composed during the round-robin as he did during the regular season, when he ranked in the top 10 in the NHL in GAA (2.42; second) and save percentage (.914; tied for eighth) among goalies who played at least 40 games.

Canadiens: Price saved his best for last against the Penguins in the Qualifiers, making 22 saves in a 2-0 win in Game 4. It was his sixth NHL postseason shutout and first since making 43 saves to eliminate the Ottawa Senators in Game 6 of the 2015 Eastern Conference First Round. Price was 27-25-6 with a 2.79 GAA, a .909 save percentage and four shutouts in 58 starts during the regular season, and the Canadiens are going to need him to be sharp if they want to pull off another upset.

Numbers to know

Flyers:Philadelphia was 0-for-11 on the power play in the round-robin after it ranked 14th in the NHL in the regular season at 20.8 percent.

Canadiens: Montreal was 0-for-12 on the power play against Pittsburgh, a continuation of its struggles from the regular season, when it ranked 22nd at 17.7 percent.

The Flyers shock the NHL by earning the number 1 seed

X-factors

Flyers: Nicolas Aube-Kubel made an impact during the regular season with 15 points (seven goals, eight assists) and 82 hits in 36 games. The rookie forward led the Flyers with 11 hits during the round-robin and scored the first two goals in the win against the Lightning. His nose for the net and strong forechecking ability earned him a promotion to the third line after starting the postseason on the fourth line.

Canadiens: Kotkaniemi scored two goals and was plus-4 against the Penguins. The forward struggled during the regular season, his second in the NHL, with eight points (six goals, two assists) in 36 games, but worked on his game in the AHL (13 points in 13 games) and emerged in the Qualifiers as a player Montreal could count on.

They said it

"Obviously, he's my favorite goalie growing up. I just had the chance to actually meet him the other week and talk with him for the first time. So that was something that was pretty cool. For (my) first playoff series, playing against Carey Price will definitely be a lot of fun. I look forward to it. And we know that it's obviously a really good goalie and they've got some good players on their team. So we'll just prepare and be ready." -- Flyers goalie Carter Hart

"We're believing in ourselves. We're having fun with it. I think we're enjoying the success that we're having right now. But we also know that this next round will be against the top-seeded team, and we're going to have to be even better. So we have an opportunity here to grow and you can't ask for a better occasion." -- Canadiens coach Claude Julien

Will win if …

Flyers:They continue to get contributions throughout their lineup. Philadelphia was undefeated in the round-robin despite its top line of Claude Giroux, Couturier and Jakub Voracek, who was unavailable to play against Tampa Bay, not scoring a goal. Eight players scored the 11 goals, including three by forward Scott Laughton, who scored 13 during the regular season.

Canadiens: Price continues to excel. The Canadiens scored 10 goals against the Penguins, but they were mostly outplayed early in the series. Pittsburgh outshot Montreal 32-13 combined in the first period of the first two games, but Price played well enough to keep the Canadiens in each. There could be long stretches when they are stuck in their own zone again against the Flyers, so Price will need to continue his high level of play.