NHL Hockey
Scoreboard|Playoffs|Stats|Standings|Teams|Players|Player News|Injuries|Transactions
1
Final 1 2 3 Tot
Philadelphia 0 1 0 1
Montreal 1 1 2 4
4
Preview | Box | Gameview | Play-By-Play | Recap 
Final Boxscore

Flyers-Canadiens Preview

Philadelphia Flyers at Montreal Canadiens

  1. The Flyers have won their last three, and six of their last seven, games against the Canadiens. This will be their first meeting of the 2012-13 season.
  2. Montreal has 69 power-play opportunities, which entering this weekend was the most in the league. Their 14 power-play goals, meanwhile, were tied for third most.
  3. The Canadiens beat the Panthers 1-0 in overtime on Thursday. It was Montreal's first 1-0 victory since April 2, 2010 at Philadelphia.
  4. Carey Price picked up his first shutout of the season on Thursday, blanking Florida 1-0. Price has two career shutouts against the Flyers, but has lost five of his last six starts against them.

By TAYLOR BECHTOLD

STATS Writer

(AP) -- Carey Price has helped the Montreal Canadiens move past their recent losing streak, but he hasn't had much success against the Philadelphia Flyers.

The Canadiens goaltender, however, may be catching the road-weary Flyers at the right time.

Price will try to build on one of his best performances of the season and lead Montreal to a third straight victory Saturday night against the Flyers.

After winning six of eight to open the season, Montreal (8-4-1) dropped three straight before responding with consecutive victories on its two-game road swing in Florida.

Price made 21 saves in a 4-3 shootout win over Tampa Bay on Tuesday and turned away 26 shots in a 1-0 overtime victory against Florida on Thursday.

"He's excellent," coach Michel Therrien said. "We lost a little bit of momentum on two shifts and that's when you need your goalie and Carey was phenomenal."

Excluding a 6-0 loss to Toronto last Saturday, Price has surrendered three goals or fewer in his other 10 starts, yielding two or less seven times. He ranks among the league leaders with a 2.06 goals-against average.

Price, though, has lost five of his last six starts against Philadelphia with a 3.38 GAA.

The Flyers (6-8-1), though, haven't exactly been lighting things up offensively lately, ranking near the bottom of the NHL with 2.46 goals per game.

Philadelphia went 3-0-1 on a recent homestand but has lost two of the first three games on its season-high six-game trip, including Friday's 5-3 defeat to New Jersey. The Flyers lost despite scoring three first-period goals and outshooting the Devils 28-19.

"I mean guys were skating hard today," said captain Claude Giroux, who had two assists. "We got a 3-1 lead, we have to find a way to get it done. We have to learn from this."

Matt Read leads the Flyers with six goals, scoring his third in five games Friday.

Philadelphia could be without top defenseman Kimmo Timonen after he left Friday's contest in the third period with a lower-body injury.

The Flyers have been outscored 31-21 in losing seven of nine on the road, while the Canadiens have dropped two straight at home after a five-game win streak at the Bell Centre.

Montreal has offensive issues of its own, scoring one goal or none in three of its past five games.

Rene Bourque scored 2:10 into overtime Thursday, the only goal the Canadiens could muster on 32 shots.

The team's power play hasn't been much help recently, converting 1 of 14 opportunities over the past three games.

Philadelphia's Ilya Bryzgalov has allowed 10 goals in his last three starts and could give way to Brian Boucher with games on back-to-back nights. Boucher made his only appearance this season in relief at Toronto on Monday, yielding one goal on 10 shots.

The Flyers have won three straight and six of seven against the Canadiens.

Updated February 16, 2013

w1 © 2013 by STATS LLC and Associated Press.
Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited.