Holding a two-point edge for the Eastern Conference’s second wild-card spot, the Montreal Canadiens look to stretch their winning streak to four games Saturday night when they host the Philadelphia Flyers.
Montreal (36-30-9, 81 points) enters the weekend two points up on the New York Rangers and four on Columbus, although the Blue Jackets have one game in hand.
The Canadiens stretched their win streak to three games with a 4-1 victory Thursday night over the visiting Boston Bruins. Captain Nick Suzuki and Brendan Gallagher each had a goal and an assist while Christian Dvorak and Cole Caufield also scored for Montreal, which is 6-3-3 over its last 12 games.
“It’s been too long,” Gallagher said of earning a playoff spot. “Really, it makes you appreciate this building, this atmosphere and everything that comes with being a Montreal Canadien. So it’s special coming to the rink. It’s definitely given us a boost right now. The crowd’s unbelievable and I’m really happy that the guys are getting to experience it that maybe haven’t seen it before.”
Sam Montembeault made 18 saves for the Canadiens, who are 20-12-5 on home ice this season. Montembeault is 28-23-6 with a .900 save percentage and a 2.86 goals-against average in 57 games.
Suzuki owns a three-game multi-point streak (four goals, three assists) for the fourth time this season. He paces the Canadiens with 81 points in 75 games.
Caufield, who has a team-leading 35 goals in 75 games, is the first Montreal player to score at least that many in a season since Max Pacioretty reached that number during the 2016-17 season.
The Canadiens and Flyers split their first two meetings this season. Montreal edged Philadelphia 4-3 on Oct. 27 while the Flyers picked up a 6-4 win last Thursday.
Philadelphia travels to Montreal riding a three-game win streak under interim coach Brad Shaw.
The Flyers (31-36-9, 71 points) have been off since Monday, when they completed a sweep of their three-game homestand with a 2-1 win over Nashville. Philadelphia sits 10 points behind Montreal with six games remaining.
Ryan Poehling and Jamie Drysdale scored for the Flyers in the win over the Predators as Philadelphia improved to 4-5-1 over its last 10.
Goaltender Ivan Fedotov made 28 saves to improve to 6-13-3 with an .881 save percentage and a 3.12 GAA in 25 games this season.
Travis Konecny and Matvei Michkov each had a pair of assists in the win. The linemates have combined for 19 points over their last six games.
“I think they’re realizing they’re a little on the same wavelength as far as how they can create offense once they’re crossing the offensive blue line, and they’ve shown a patience and ability to get open for the other guy,” Shaw said. “That’s a really nice thing to see because they’re making something out of nothing sometimes. They’re keeping the offense going later, longer than the defense can withstand it and they’re getting some glorious chances because of it.”
Konecny paces the Flyers with 49 assists and 73 points in 76 games, while Konecny and Michkov share the team lead with 24 goals apiece.
–Field Level Media
