The Flyers will be looking for a much better outcome and to take the advantage back over the Canadiens.
It’s time to put the second game behind them and focus on the next task ahead. And that is to gain some momentum back over Montreal. The key for the Flyers is to find a way to get in on the forecheck like the Canadiens were able to do on Friday. Winning the battles in the trenches is the best way to find success.
It was clear Montreal used that advantage early and often on their way to a 5-0 route of the Flyers in the second game of the series. They forced turnovers and didn’t allow Philadelphia to feel comfortable in any zone. Flipping the script on the Canadiens is the biggest thing the Flyers will have to do.
And they could be doing it with a different lineup on the ice. While Alain Vigneault is not divulging anything about his lineup, we can speculate some of the things that may lie ahead. And it could all start with the status of Travis Konecny.
He blocked a shot off his foot with under eight minutes to go in the third period. He hobbled off the ice and had to be helped down the tunnel. There was no practice on Saturday and Vigneault could not give us an update. His absence would be a big loss to this Flyers team.
And it would mean having to adjust a few players up and down the lineup. You could put Joel Farabee on the second line in place of Konecny. He spent some time on that line during the season. He has shown chemistry before with Kevin Hayes and Scott Laughton.
The Flyers could potentially be getting Michael Raffl back for this game. He took to the ice for warmups on Friday. Adding him back would be a boost to the bottom-six. He could even possible slot in on that second line if need-be. There hasn’t been an update on his condition either, though.
One thing is almost for sure, Carter Hart will be between the pipes once again. Vigneault shot down the notion that he wasn’t pleased with Hart’s effort despite the decision to pull him. He did what he could with the team in front of him unable to get out of their own way most of the night. He has been one of their strongest players thus far in Toronto.
So there is no reason for Vigneault to want to go to Brian Elliott to start this one. The team does have a back to back coming up so we could see split starts in those two.
It won’t matter if the Flyers aren’t able to find a way to counter Montreal’s aggressiveness on the forecheck and back check. And not to mention getting bodies in front Carey Price. You can’t stop what you can’t see. That is the motto the Flyers need to live by in the offensive zone.
Create chaos in front of him and maybe you can get a few pucks past him. You won’t beat Price if he any chance at seeing the puck. He proven that numerous times early on in this series. Though, he has shown to make a few acrobatic saves as well.
If the Flyers can make things difficult for Price and the other skaters on the ice, they have a shot at grabbing the lead back in this series.