GDT Game #71 - Montreal Canadiens @ Philadelphia Flyers - Thursday, March 27th @ 7PM EST

[xXx..CK..xXx]

After a tough loss to the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday, the Habs will look to rebound against a struggling Philadelphia team on Thursday. 
 

Next Matchup

 

Montreal Canadiens @ Philadelphia Flyers - Thursday, March 27th @ 7:00PM EST @ Wells Fargo Center

 

 

Montreal Canadiens

 

Caufield - Suzuki - Slafkovský

Roy - Newhook - Laine

Anderson - Dvorak - Gallagher

Heineman - Evans - Armia

 

Matheson - Carrier

Struble - Hutson

Xhekaj - Savard

 

Dobeš

Montembeault

 

 

Philadelphia Flyers

 

Foerster - Cates - Brink

Michkov - Couturier - Konecny

Tippett - Poehling - Pelletier

Deslauriers - Abols - Lycksell

 

York - Sanheim

Seeler - Drysdale

Zamula - Andrae

 

Ersson

Fedotov

 

 

Storyline:

 

For the first time in a while the Habs enter the game finding themselves in a very different situation than their opponent. While the Habs are clinging on to the last wildcard spot, depending on what happens in the Islanders game this evening, the Flyers are just about looking ahead to their future. 
 

While both the Flyers and the Habs have young top lines, the Philadelphia top line does not hold the same pedigree as the Montreal top line. Cates, Foerster and Brink have a combined age of 72 (23,23,26), the Habs’ top line has a combined age of 69 (24,25,20). 
 

 

With that being said, the Habs top line has combined for 178 points this season whereas the Philadelphia top line have combined for 94 points.

While both the Flyers and Habs are coming off of 5 goal losses (Habs 1-6 vs St. Louis & Flyers 2-7 vs Leafs), the Habs clearly enter the game as favorites.

 

 

With that being said, Caufield finds himself in a mini slump with only 1 point and no goals in his past 4 games. If the Habs are to begin winning games in regulation, or at all, they will need him to step up to the plate and start producing for them, as he is the 2nd leading scorer in the NHL on the road with over 20 goals. Slafkovský has also gone 3 games out of his last 4 without a point, however he did score 2 important goals versus Colorado.

 

The Habs enter this matchup with a few question marks regarding their lineup. The first question surrounds Kaiden Guhle. He has been skating with the team in a regular practice jersey and with the Habs having lost their last game by a wide margin, this may be the perfect opportunity for him to enter the lineup. The question will remain, who will he replace? The answer will likely be between Struble, Savard and Xhekaj. While Savard is the most popular pick, he does tend to bring value in certain unique areas, including the reality that removing him would leave the Habs with 5 left handed defensemen in the lineup and only one right hander in Carrier.

 

 

The other main question surrounds goaltending. With the Habs on the front end of a back to back, will Dobeš be the starter against Philadelphia? Once again, after the Habs struggled mightly in their last contest, and the Flyers being a relatively easy opponent (not to be taken for granted though) this may be the moment to get Dobeš into the net and give Montembeault the day off. If it were me, Dobeš would play this game, however time will tell as the goalies have yet to be confirmed. 
 

 

The time is now for the Habs to turn their recent results around and begin a solid stretch to finish off their regular season. The team is coming off of a very difficult loss but it is possible that they needed that wakeup call and it could be viewed in a positive light down the road should they use their loss vs St. Louis as a learning experience and use it as fuel for the remainder of their season. They had been getting away with things as of late, so hopefully the Habs can use the frustration from that matchup and translate it into productive play.
 

The margins are slim but they have played well enough over the stretch to have their destiny in their own hands. As one can see, the storyline of this matchup revolves mainly around the Habs. The Flyers have some ex-Habs players in Poehling and Deslauriers but they are mostly depth players and shouldn’t factor much into the equation, unless Deslauriers would like to drop the mits with Xhekaj. The Habs should remain disciplined however and if they do so, they should come out of this match with a victory. 

 

Previous Matchup:

 

October 27, 2024: Montreal 4 - 3 Flyers

 

 

 

 

 

[Prime Minister Koivu]

Slafkovsky hat trick, first star

 

 

[GHT120]

Bobby Brink ... because I LOVE alliteration ... doesn't necessarily mean Habs lose.

[Commandant]

Tortorella fired this morning.  Brad Shaw interim coach.

[JoeLassister]

Damnit !   Flyers will probably play hard tonight, driven by this firing.  Timing sucks for our Habs. 

(OR.... or totally collapse... 🤞)

[Prime Minister Koivu]

Who hires Torts next? LOL

 

Hopefully Philly just gives up

[Prime Minister Koivu]

[The Chicoutimi Cucumber]

18 minutes ago, Prime Minister Koivu said:

Who hires Torts next? LOL

 

Hopefully Philly just gives up

 

I cannot understand how this blatherskite keeps getting hired. What is the magical hold he has on NHL GMs? Is there NO ONE in the realms of available, up and coming coaches who might be worth a look instead of this tiresome man-child retread?

 

I'm also pissed off that this happens right before we play them. Now we're going to face a jacked-up Philly hungry for a win, instead of the listless Dead Team Walking we saw leading up to this. F**K

[xXx..CK..xXx]

Brad Marchand should be back with Florida just in time for our home and home with them as well 🙂

 

In all seriousness, the on ice talent is still tilted in our favour. We noticed that this didn’t matter against the Islanders but the Habs have enough reason to be jacked up for this game as well. They remain the favorites despite the reality that the game still needs to be played on the ice. Nevertheless, I agree that the timing is unfortunate. 

[GHT120]

Oh-oh ... new coach bounce?
 

 

[Habs Fan in Edmonton]

41 minutes ago, The Chicoutimi Cucumber said:

 

I cannot understand how this blatherskite keeps getting hired. What is the magical hold he has on NHL GMs? Is there NO ONE in the realms of available, up and coming coaches who might be worth a look instead of this tiresome man-child retread?

 

I'm also pissed off that this happens right before we play them. Now we're going to face a jacked-up Philly hungry for a win, instead of the listless Dead Team Walking we saw leading up to this. F**K

 

He did win a cup. Tortorella is likely a good coach in the right situation, perhaps a rebuilding team is not the right situation. He is a coach that ex players love or hate. I have also heard players that have played for him say that he is a great human being and one of the few coaches that actually cared about them as people. 

 

But you are right, bad timing, Flyers likely get the new coach bounce tonight. 

[GHT120]

56 minutes ago, The Chicoutimi Cucumber said:

I cannot understand how this blatherskite keeps getting hired. What is the magical hold he has on NHL GMs? Is there NO ONE in the realms of available, up and coming coaches who might be worth a look instead of this tiresome man-child retread?

MSL tried tried to hire him as an assistant but Flyers hired him as HC ... MIGHT the Canadiens re-visit?

[Prime Minister Koivu]

2 minutes ago, GHT120 said:

MSL tried tried to hire him as an assistant but Flyers hired him as HC ... MIGHT the Canadiens re-visit?

PLEASE god no 

 

 

[Prime Minister Koivu]

GO DOBES GO

[Commandant]

1 hour ago, GHT120 said:

MSL tried tried to hire him as an assistant but Flyers hired him as HC ... MIGHT the Canadiens re-visit?

 

Did he? or was this Hockey30 fantasy?

[GHT120]

5 minutes ago, Commandant said:

Did he? or was this Hockey30 fantasy?

I recall reading/hearing it from multiple outlets ... they are apparently friends (post MSL playing career)

[Habs Fan in Edmonton]

3 minutes ago, GHT120 said:

I recall reading/hearing it from multiple outlets ... they are apparently friends (post MSL playing career)

 

I recall reading something similar, not sure where.  Tortorella had nothing but great things to say about MSL when he was hired so I assume they have a good relationship. Somehow I don't see Tortorella as an assistant but I could be wrong about that. 

[Commandant]

15 minutes ago, GHT120 said:

I recall reading/hearing it from multiple outlets ... they are apparently friends (post MSL playing career)

 

I dont doubt that they are friends. 

 

I do doubt that Torts ever had a serious conversation with MSL about being the assistant coach for multiple reasons. 

 

1) Torts wouldn't want to be an assistant. 

2) Would MSL want Torts as his assistant, cause in some segments of the media it would become Torts is the head coach and MSL is the assistant with the Head coach title cause Torts doesn't speak french. 

 

For those two reasons, I wonder how serious these conversations ever were. 

[dlbalr]

17 minutes ago, Habs Fan in Edmonton said:

I recall reading something similar, not sure where.  Tortorella had nothing but great things to say about MSL when he was hired so I assume they have a good relationship. Somehow I don't see Tortorella as an assistant but I could be wrong about that. 

 

This may have been speculation going back to when St. Louis was a PP consultant for Columbus for a part season when Tortorella was there.  The two worked well together then so why not now type of thing.

[xXx..CK..xXx]

Tortorella was assistant coach on Team USA. Before anyone comes at me, I know that being an assistant coach of a national team is extremely different to an assistant coach in the NHL. I am not comparing the two, simply stating he has been an assistant coach.

 

In terms of Tortorella becoming St. Louis’ assistant coach, Tortorella coached St. Louis in Tampa Bay, so he saw first hand the “greatness” of St. Louis’ hockey mind. In 2019, when Columbus’ power play was struggling, Tortorella asked him to join their team as a consultant on the power play because Tortorella wasn’t getting through to some of his players (Foligno, Jones, Wennberg, etc.) who were struggling offensively for over a year. 
 

With all that being said, just general I see it the opposite way in that it would be more likely for St. Louis to be Tortorella’s assistant than vice versa… especially considering Tortorella was St. Louis’ coach in the past. Never say never though.
 

Is Tortorella practicing his french?

[DON]

What job opening is even available?

[Prime Minister Koivu]

7 minutes ago, DON said:

What job opening is even available?

They never did replace Burrows

[JoeLassister]

Arber for 1st star tonight.

[sbhatt]

Let's hope that our just got blown out boost is greater than their just got rid of the coach they hated boost.

[Prime Minister Koivu]

Useless chart but still fun to look at