The 17-17-5 Montréal Canadiens come to town tonight to take on newly acquired Jamie Drysdale and the 20-14-6 Philadelphia Flyers.
Let’s get right to it.
The Drysdale Debut
Its been a whirlwind of a last couple days for Flyers fans as former top prospect Cutter Gauthier was dealt to the Anaheim Ducks for a 2025 2nd-round pick and 21-year-old right-handed defenseman Jamie Drysdale.
When I heard the news, like most fans probably, I could not believe it. The front office kept the trade talk under wraps and no one saw it coming. After the smoke cleared, and X (formerly Twitter) calmed down, the excitement began. The Flyers received a young and talented defenseman with extremely high upside, a player who the organization is hoping will develop into the top right-handed defenseman they’ve been searching for.
Tonight, Flyers fans get to see him in action in what has to be an insanely quick turnaround for Drysdale after being a Duck only a few days ago. The Anaheim defensive system is not like the one John Tortorella and Brad Shaw deploy. Drysdale played a lot of man to man in Anaheim and will have to adjust to playing zone with the Flyers.
Flyers fans shouldn’t expect production right out the gate but what they can expect is a fast and smooth skating, puck moving defenseman that will bring some change and hopefully life to the Flyers power play tonight. In 10 games played on the year, Drysdale has recored 1 goal and 4 assists. In his final game for the Ducks, he recorded an assist in a 3-2 loss to the Detroit Red Wings.
Drysdale is expected to be paired with Travis Sanheim tonight, with Egor Zamula being the 7th defenseman and Marc Staal a scratch. Philadelphia fans surely will be tuning in to check out the new and important piece to Daniel Brière’s and Keith Jones’ plan.
Sitting in 6th Place
The Montréal Canadiens haven’t had a great season up to this point. At 17-17-5, they are sitting in 6th place in the Atlantic Division with 39 points, a full 10 points out of 3rd place. The Canadiens are still trying to find their identity and building a roster able to compete with such a tough division which boasts the Boston Bruins, Florida Panthers, Toronto Maple Leafs, and Tampa Bay Lightning. Montréal has a collection of young players they hope will develop and mold this team into a contender. The two top young forwards on the team being Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki, are huge parts to Montreal’s future.
Keeping Suzuki in Check
Centerman Nick Suzuki leads Montréal in points with 34 in 39 games played this season. With 12 goals and 22 assists, he’s produced consistently with the Canadiens since the 19-20 season. Suzuki has now gone back-to-back games without a point so he may be due tonight. The 2017 first round pick should be priority number one for the Flyers’ defense to contain.
Another Canadien looking to get back on the scoresheet is Cole Caufield. The right winger scored in 3 straight before cooling off in his last two games. Both of these young and talented forwards are surely eager to get back on the stat sheet and the Flyers defense will have to be up to the task of extending their goalless streak.
Time to Bounce Back
The latest installment of Flyers vs. Penguins had its expected scrappiness and big hits, but in the end the Flyers delivered a poor performance. You never want to lose to your most hated rival, but even worse, the Penguins are not far away from the Flyers in the standings. Games like that are now that much more vital to making the playoffs.
The Flyers need to bounce back tonight against an inferior team in the Montréal Canadiens and not come out flat. We all know the Flyers’ chances of winning are far higher when scoring first. The Flyers need to put the pressure on the visiting team early and not immediately have to play from behind.
Figuring Out Foerster
The 21-year-old right winger hasn’t scored a goal since December 4th. With 5 goals on the year, Tyson Foerster desperately needs a tally soon and hopefully tonight in order to get out of this slump. Tyson owns a great shot and plays very hard. He been finding himself in good spots during this goalless stretch but has come up with nothing to show for it. The Flyers need to start this game quick and put the pressure on the Montréal netminder early. Maybe tonight’s the night Foerster delivers.
All-Star TK
Travis Konecny continues to be the motor for this Flyers team. The All-Star has 4 goals in his last 5 games, bringing his season total to 21. Against Calgary, TK netted a shorty and in the Blue Jackets game, he took over with 2 goals on the night. Both of these games were against teams the Flyers should have and needed to beat. Good teams beat bad teams, and tonight against the Canadiens, look for TK to lead the way once more.
PHI Record: 20-14-6, 46 pts, 3rd in Metropolitan
MTL Record: 17-17-5, 39 pts, 6th in Atlantic
When: 7:00pm ET
Where: Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, PA
Broadcast Info: NBC Sports Philadelphia, 93.3 WMMR
Last Game PHI: 1/8/24, 4-1 L vs. Pittsburgh
Last Game MTL: 1/6/24, 4-3 SOW vs. NY Rangers
PHI Goalie: Samuel Ersson (9-5-3, .904 SV%, 2.50 GAA, 2 SO)
MTL Goalie: Cayden Primeau (4-4-0, .898 SV%, 3.30 GAA, 0 SO)
PHI Projected Lineup
#86 Joel Farabee – #14 Sean Couturier – #11 Travis Konecny
#74 Owen Tippett – #21 Scott Laughton – #89 Cam Atkinson
#71 Tyson Foerster – #48 Morgan Frost – #10 Bobby Brink
#25 Ryan Poehling – #19 Garnet Hathaway
#6 Travis Sanheim – #9 Jamie Drysdale
#8 Cam York – #26 Sean Walker
#24 Nick Seeler – #55 Rasmus Ristolainen
#5 Egor Zamula
#33 Samuel Ersson
#79 Carter Hart
Scratches: #18 Marc Staal, #44 Nicolas Deslauriers
Injuries: #27 Noah Cates
MTL Projected Lineup
#22 Cole Caufield – #14 Nick Suzuki – #20 Juraj Slafkovský
#11 Brendan Gallagher – #71 Jake Evans – #17 Josh Anderson
#51 Emil Heineman – #91 Sean Monahan – #56 Jesse Ylönen
#55 Michael Pezzetta – #13 Mitchell Stephens – #40 Joel Armia
#8 Mike Matheson – #58 David Savard
#21 Kaiden Guhle – #52 Justin Barron
#47 Jayden Struble – #54 Jordan Harris
#30 Cayden Primeau
#34 Jake Allen
Scratches: #26 Johnathan Kovacevic, #35 Sam Montembeault
Injuries: #15 Alex Newhook, #49 Rafaël Harvey-Pinard, #70 Tanner Pearson
News and Notes
– The Flyers are 81-84-30-10 all-time against the Canadiens since they joined the league in 1967 and are 45-37-16-4 at home against Montréal.
– Sean Couturier leads all active Flyers in assists (12) and points (19) against the Canadiens, and he shares the goals lead (7) against them with Cam Atkinson as well.
– Tonight is Pride Night at Wells Fargo Center. Per the Flyers, the team will celebrate and recognize local LGBTQ+ groups and individuals as well as host guests through the team’s Community Ticket Grant program and Scott Laughton’s Pride initiative. There will also be Pride signage throughout the arena and Flyers Charities will be hosting an online auction of Pride-themed items.
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