The Philadelphia Flyers hope to prove they belong in the discussion of the Eastern Conference’s best teams. After taking another step in that direction with their latest victory, they’ll look for a little revenge in the process.
Philadelphia hosts a matchup of division leaders Monday night against Montreal, which shut out the Flyers less than a week ago.
Philadelphia survived Washington’s comeback attempt Saturday for a 5-4 shootout victory. Brian Boucher earned his first win since Oct. 23, making 33 saves after going 1-3-1 in his first five starts this season.
Fantasy notes: Defenceman P.K. Subban has just two points this month, but one came with 6 PIM in that last game vs. PHI. Mike Richards, who will be part of one of the main storylines for tonight’s match because of his recent feud with Subban, has been sizzling of late with 8-6-14 in 10 November GP. | Follow Chris Nichols on Twitter
“It’s just nice to win,” Boucher said. “Obviously, you get a two-goal lead in the third and you want to nail it down. It didn’t happen.”
Despite giving up three power-play goals in the third period and squandering a 3-1 lead, Philadelphia (13-6-2) snapped a two-game losing skid which included a 3-0 loss to the Canadiens on Tuesday and an 8-7 defeat to Tampa Bay on Thursday.
Danny Briere scored the only goal in the shootout, while Jeff Carter, Claude Giroux, Andreas Nodl and Mike Richards scored in regulation.
The Flyers entered Saturday against the Capitals having gone only 2-4-1 against conference contenders Washington, Tampa Bay, Pittsburgh and Montreal.
“It’s one thing to beat the lower-seed teams,” Briere said. “But we have to start showing we belong amongst the best.”
Beating the Canadiens may help the Flyers’ case.
Carey Price made 30 saves in a 2-0 win Saturday against Toronto, earning his third shutout in six games and fourth of the season.
Montreal (13-6-1) has won five of six, killing 26 of 27 penalties in that span The Canadiens lead the NHL with a 90.5 percent penalty kill and held the Maple Leafs scoreless in three attempts with the man advantage.
Jeff Halpern scored a short-handed goal in the second period, and Michael Cammalleri netted his sixth goal of the season in the third.
“I think our penalty killers have done an outstanding job. (Halpern’s) goal was the turning point,” coach Jacques Martin told the team’s official site. “That goal was just really good execution. I think that exemplified how Jeff Halpern has been playing for our team.”
It was Halpern’s fifth goal and 11th point this season.
“I thought we did a good job pressuring them and not letting them get set up, but our (defense is) doing a great job of getting on pucks on their zone entries,” Halpern said. “And when we have broken down, a goalie can make stats and numbers look pretty good.”
Halpern was alluding to Price, who has won six of his last eight starts and ranks among the league’s best with a 2.00 goals-against average.
Sergei Bobrovsky, who is 11-3-1 with a 2.29 goals-against average, likely will oppose Price in goal for the Flyers. Bobrovsky allowed goals to Cammalleri, Tomas Plekanec and Brian Gionta in the team’s previous matchup as Montreal outshot Philadelphia 41-28.
This is the second meeting between the teams since the Flyers beat the Canadiens in five games in last season’s Eastern Conference finals.
