The Montreal Canadiens will once again have their backs against the wall, no pun or cliche intended. After a spirited win in game five where they finally scored a lengthy goal drought, the Canadiens offence has finally come out to play.
Joel Armia scored a pair of goals while Nick Suzuki put one in on Wednesday. Jesperi Kotkaniemi’s night ended early as he was tossed from the game due to a boarding call on Travis Sanhiem. The Flyers responded with two goals from Jakub Voracek and points from Claude Giroux and Sean Couturier.
The game turned ugly near the end when Brendan Gallagher was cross-checked in the mouth by Matt Niskanen and left the winger’s face covered in blood, not to mention also losing a tooth. We all know the outcome now, Gallagher has a broken jaw and is out for the series as he undergoes surgery. Niskanen, on the other hand, got a one game suspension from the department of player safety.
“I respectfully agree to disagree.”
That’s what Montreal general manager Marc Bergevin responded when asked what he thought of the verdict from the National Hockey League.
Keys To Victory
Score the first goal: In this series, the team who has scored the first goal has had all the success and won each of those games. The Canadiens need to score first and get the momentum early on in the game.
Stay out of the box: Throughout the NHL playoffs, I’ve said this a lot, but Montreal can’t take penalties.
Montreal Players To Watch
Max Domi: The centreman will be heavily relied on now that Gallagher is out due to injury. Domi recorded three points in game two of the series. He’ll be tasked with sparking Montreal’s offence because when he is on his game, he can be very dangerous and cannot be stopped.
Nick Suzuki: He continues to be one of Montreal’s best players and he needs to keep strong as the Habs look for the victory.
Philadelphia Players To Watch
Jakub Voracek : He scored two goals in the previous game and will look to keep that streak going on Friday.
Carter Hart: He had another rough outing in game five, but will look to bounce back and advance.
The Canadiens will have a herculean task of trying to force a seventh meeting without their emotional and physical leader. It certainly won’t be easy as the Flyers haven’t lost back-to-back games since January.
Puck drop is scheduled to take place at 7:00pmET at Scotiabank Arena. The game is available for viewing on Sportsnet Ontario, CBC and NBCSN, meanwhile, it can be heard via radio on TSN 690 and 98.5fm. It will also be carried in Canadiens region on TVA Sports to be watched in French.