Flyers and Habs – Eastern Division Showdown

The last time the Montreal Canadiens had a taste of the Philadelphia Flyers – it left a sour flavour as the Flyers eliminated the Habs 4 – 1 in the Eastern Conference Finals. Tonight ‘ s game at the Bell Center will give an indication of what the Canadiens are made of as they sketch a very big word on the chalkboard in the dressing room. That word is ‘ payback ‘ with a capital ‘ CH ‘ .

Montreal ran out of steam last season . After eliminating Washington and Pittsburgh , two series that saw the Habs defence block more shots than a bar patron after 3 am – Les Canadiens were simply spent . Done like dinner . Kaput – passed on . Unlike the parrot in Monty Python’s famous sketch , they were not ‘ stunned ‘ . They were deceased and awaiting a proper burial. That was last season , this is now and the Montreal Canadiens are very well rested.

Two things have changed since last season . Jaroslav is no longer attempting to keep pucks out of le bleu , blanc et rouge crease and the Canadiens have become tougher . Jeff Halpern was added from Los Angeles and not only is he bigger and stronger than the person he replaced – Dominic Moore , he is adding scoring and leadership to the team. Benoit Pouliot seems to have realized that his size , 6 ‘ 3 – 198 lbs , is not just something that allows him to reach the peanut butter on the top shelf. He is so much more physical this season , Olivia Newton – John gave him a call and asked him for dinner . Benoit ‘ s presence in the corners and the crease is allowing him and his line mates the freedom and respect that was missing last year.

Another player with size that was not part of the Habs rise to the eastern finals last year is Lars Eller . Eller may not be contributing point wise in his junior year with the Habs , yet his physical presence and long strides do cause panic among opposing defence men and they tend to give Eller more attention than they did with former Hab Glen Metropolit. This again allows more room for whoever is playing with Lars and Eller himself is not shy regarding the rough stuff. Mathieu Darche , Maxime Lapierre , Tom Pyatt , Travis Moen, Andrei Kostisyn and the diminutive captain – Brian Gionta , are all tough players that have character. The type of players that get pushed down and they bounce back faster than a Weeble. Weebles may wobble but heck , they don ‘ t fall down. No matter how hard they get pushed.

The Flyers , no strangers to toughness themselves , faced a majority of these Habs last season . The Montreal bunch was so beat up by the time they got to Philly , they did not know if they were supposed to be Weebles wobbling or Wobbles weebling . Play – off hero Jaroslav Halak had seen more work in a month than Paris Hilton has in a lifetime. Jaroslav  may be gone but the Flyers must now deal with a rested netminder named Price  – a ‘ cowboy ‘ that  has stood on his head so often –  his spurs are spinning in the wind.

Goaltending will be the difference tonight as two teams that came oh so close to the Stanley Cup last year , attempt to prove to each other that this season will be no different and they both will be in the Eastern Conference Final. The Flyers lead the Atlantic Division with a 12 – 4 -2 record and twenty – six points. They have given up 38 goals goals compared to the Habs ‘ 36 but they have lit the lamp 63 times – 17 more than the Canadiens. On paper , tonight ‘ s game dictates that Carey Price will face a lot of shots and the more rubber – the more goals against. The Flyers are in for a surprise if they think that way as only four teams thus far in 2010 – 11 have allowed more shots on goal than the Montreal Canadiens. Price has been outstanding but the Montreal squad have been paying attention to coaches Martin and Pearn . They have learned that ‘ the system ‘  is far easier on their stress levels than a ‘ rolly polly ‘ type of game that would enable their individual point totals to skyrocket. It is also a way to  ‘ play ‘ nice with the fans and the Montreal press corps . A ‘  rolling stone gathers no moss ‘ so as long as the team keeps rolling and accumulating padding to protect their derrieres from the teams chasing them  , the  ‘ moss ‘ will leave them alone. In both official languages .

Andrei Markov has torn ligaments in his knee once more and unless he performs another miracle and returns earlier than expected – he will be lost to the team for three months. The assistant captain and the Habs most talented player , has suffered the same injury to a knee that was surgically repaired over the summer. The injury happened in the same corner on the same type of play that knocked him out of last season ‘s play offs. This time – Carolina forward Eric Staal , cannot be blamed as he and Markov simply collided in the course to obtain the puck. Last season there was reasonable doubt as Pittsburgh ‘s Matt Cooke went into the corner and apparently tried to injure Markov. Cooke also leveled Boston ‘s Marc Savard with an elbow that has left the Bruin forward still unable to play . The  ‘ proof is in the pudding ‘ and Cooke will one day regret his style of play.

It is called ‘ Payback ! ‘

Habs Notes….

Alexandre Picard will replace Markov in the line up tonight. Picard started the season in Montreal to replace Markov. He was a bit shaky at first but eventually won the confidance of his teammates with a strong two way effort . He has one goal in nine games and before he was relegated to the press box – he led the team with a plus seven.

Price .218 GAA

Carey Price was named the NHL ‘s first star of the week. Price went 3 – 0 , stopping 96 of a possible 99 shots and earned a .970 save percentage. His average during the past week was 1.00 and he also recorded his second shut -out of the season and the sixth of his career.

Check out Eugene Markman ‘s take on the Flyers at Broad Street Buzz.

For all NHL news……visit Fansided ‘s Too Many Men on the Site

Don ‘t forget to vote on this week ‘s question…..!

I am also looking for contributing writers . If you love the Habs and can tell the difference between ‘Write ‘ and ‘ Wrong ‘ , please send me a message at keenerick@hotmail.com

The Game tonight is starting at 7 pm and not the usual 7 30 pm start . It is being pushed ahead to so that the game can be telecast on an American Network.