Philadelphia Flyers: Looking to send Montreal packing
The Flyers could put an end to their first round series with a victory against the Canadiens tonight.
Despite scoring just five goals in four games, the Flyers have a chance to move on to the second round this evening. Up 3-1 in their series against Montreal, one more win is all they need.
It’s been a series where the Flyers have seemingly been able to handle the Canadiens. The second game of the series is looking more and more like the outlier. The Flyers certainly haven’t been at their complete best, but they’ve done enough to get the job done.
A lot of it can be put on the shoulders of the young Carter Hart. With back to back shutouts, there’s almost no doubt he’ll be back on the net tonight. He became the second youngest goaltender to record shutouts in two consecutive playoff games.
And with a shutout streak of 120:00 minutes, Hart is looking to shut Montreal down once more. He has no doubt frustrated the Canadiens top players. They’ve certainly had their opportunities to get one past the young goaltender. But he has been strong when needed.
Meanwhile, the Flyers have continued to get scoring from lower down in the lineup. With no goals from a significant amount of their top players, it’s the bottom six and defensemen that are powering the offense. Michael Raffl and Philippe Myers grabbed a goal yesterday, both of which were their second of the playoffs.
That’s tied for second on the team as five Flyers have two goals thus far. Jakub Voracek, the leading playoff scorer, is the only top player who has been able to get on the board. And a few of those goals have come from just simply going to the net and taking away the eyes of Carey Price.
It’s been said multiple times throughout the playoffs, but soon enough the Flyers will need offense from other players. Scoring one or two goals a game isn’t always going to get it done. Of course, it’s possible if Hart continues to play the way he has.
What’s needed more is finding a way to get the power play going. The team failed once again to get anything on three man advantage chances. It’s not hurting them yet, but that too could come back to bite them. The unit got a few good looks on Tuesday, but haven’t clicked enough.
The Flyers have Montreal on the brink of elimination. And being considered the home team once again, the last change could help them get the matchups they need to pull this one out. Montreal has been tough this entire first round, but it’s the Flyers that have a chance to end their improbable run.