The Broad Street Blog

Both of these teams are coming off of first round series that went seven games. For the first place Canadiens, the 8th place Bruins took them to 7 games. The Bruins were able to take it Montreal and shut down the league’s top performing power play. For the Flyers, they are coming off a series against the Washington Capitals where they took a 3 games to 1 lead, only see the Capitals tie up the series. In dramatic fashion, the Flyers won the game in overtime of game 7 on Tuesday. Just two days later, they are in Montreal to play the Canadiens.

Head to Head Comparison:
Flyers
Player to Watch
That would have to be Danny Briere. He drew the ire of Canadiens fans when he decided to sign as a free agent with the Flyers and not play in Montreal. Those in Montreal have the belief that if you are French Canadien, you must play for Montreal if given the chance. They feel spurned that he decided to play somewhere else. Both times the Flyers played in Montreal, Briere was booed every time he touched the puck. Since the playoffs began, Briere has been scoring at a torrid pace. So far, he has 6 goals, 5 assists, and is a +2. He currently leads the league in both goals and overall points. 5 out of the 6 players that follow him in goals are on teams that were eliminated in the first round.

Depth
The Flyers’ depth up front showed during the first round against the Capitals. Danny Briere is not the only threat the Flyers have. The line of Jeff Carter, Mike Knuble, and Scottie Upshall was constantly seen buzzing around the Washington zone, and was responsible for scoring key goals. Knuble was injured in game 5, and is still listed as out indefinitely. RJ Umberger has taken his place on that line. Mike Richards, in his 3rd year in NHL, had a breakout performance, leading the team in scoring with 75 points. He has been described by many as one of the best two way forwards in the league. He was responsible for playing a defensive role against Alexander Ovechkin in the first round. He is even a threat to score while killing a penalty and was near the top in the league with 5 shorthanded goals.

Goaltending
Coming into the playoffs, Martin Biron was unproven. He had yet to even start in a playoff game. Since then he has won a series and has a shutout to his credit. He was one of the main reasons the Flyers were able to move on to the second round. He had several spectacular moments and saves against the Capitals and kept his team in the series and gave them a chance to win.

Canadiens
Player to Watch
When the Canadiens traded away starting goaltender Christobal Huet to Washington, they put their playoff hopes on rookie Carey Price. During the regular season, Price recorded 24 wins, 12 losses and 3 overtime losses, with a goals against average of 2.56. In the playoffs, he is 4-3, and has two shutouts to his credit. Against the Flyers so far this year, Price is 3-0, including one shutout. Like they did with Huet, the Flyers are going to try to get traffic in front of Price. Price is going to have to get used to a big Philadelphia team bearing down on the net and being in front of him.



Power Play
During the regular season, the Canadiens had the top ranked power play in the league. Through out most of the year it operated at 25%, scoring on 1 out of every four power play chances. However, during the playoffs, it has only operated at 9%. A key to the series for Montreal is getting their play play going, and getting Philadelphia to play undisciplined and take penalties at inopportune times, things they have been known to do.

Balanced Attack
The Canadiens have a very balanced scoring attack and have many threats. Three out of five of Montreal’s top postseason scorers are on one line. The Kostitsyn brothers, Sergei and Andrei, have 3 goals a piece, and they are centered by Tomas Plekanec, who has 4 points so far this postseason. The other major scoring threat for the Canadiens is the line that consists of Alex Kovalev and captain Saku Koivu. Kovalev is coming an 84 point season, and Koivu garnered 56 points. Kovalev has 6 points so far in the playoffs. Instead of one player to concentrate on this series, the Flyers defense is going to have to worry about multiple threats.

07-08 Season Series
The Canadiens were 4-0 against the Flyers this past season. However, that figure may not hold much weight when it comes to the playoffs. The Canadiens were 8-0 against the Boston Bruins in the regular season, and the Bruins put the screws to Montreal, with the first round series going 7 games.

Tags:   briere · canadiens · Carter · Flyers · Koivu · Kostitsyn · Kovalev · RichardsNo Comments