A Winning Habit
Fansided

The Montreal Canadiens Will Face the Philadelphia Flyers in the First Round of the Playoffs

By Sebastian High

PHILADELPHIA, PA - MARCH 19: Claude Giroux #28 of the Philadelphia Flyers looks to pass the puck with teammates Sean Couturier #14 and Jakub Voracek #93 against Brendan Gallagher #11 of the Montreal Canadiens on March 19, 2019 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Len Redkoles/NHLI via Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA, PA - MARCH 19: Claude Giroux #28 of the Philadelphia Flyers looks to pass the puck with teammates Sean Couturier #14 and Jakub Voracek #93 against Brendan Gallagher #11 of the Montreal Canadiens on March 19, 2019 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Len Redkoles/NHLI via Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
3 of 3
Next
Montreal Canadiens, Philadelphia Flyers
PHILADELPHIA, PA – NOVEMBER 07: Montreal Canadiens Philadelphia Flyers (Photo by Drew Hallowell/Getty Images) /

Gostisbehere, a former 60-point scoring defenseman, and Braun a reliable presence at the back since 2011 will face Victor Mete, who has shown that he can be extremely effective defensively on his ay but is also prone to the occasional defensive lapse, and Xavier Ouellet, a player who has yet to cement himself as an NHLer.

The top-4 of both teams are on a far more even playing field, with Chiarot and Weber showing their worth against Pittsburgh as a physically-punishing, point-producing pairing and Jeff Petry and Brett Kulak playing a truly excellent defensive game, with the latter pocketing Sidney Crosby in the series’ two final games and the former finding a knack for scoring game-winning goals.

Lastly is the matchup that will give the Canadiens their best shot at winning this series: goaltending. Carey Price stole the show against Pittsburgh, saving four goals above average in 4 games, a frankly ridiculous statistic. Not to mention, he saved 94.7% of the shots he faced. If Price’s play should fall, so will the Canadiens.

At the other end of the ice will be Carter Hart, a 21-year-old who grew up idolizing Carey Price, something that is apparent in his style of play: cool, calm and composed. Hart has started 74 regular-season games in the past two years and has a career save percentage of 0.917; for comparison’s sake, Price’s is at 0.918 in 682 contests. Hart has displayed brilliance, and if he can do so consistently in this series, his team will have the upper hand.

However good Hart has been as a young goaltender, the advantage in this category is clear, Carey Price, with his experience and his current form, will be the biggest obstacle for the Philadelphia Flyers to overcome in this series.

Next. The pros of a "flex cap". dark

Whatever the eventual outcome will be, this should be an exciting series with spectacular saves and beautiful goals created by both teams. If you ask me, depth scoring will play a key role in this series and whichever team gets more help from their non-star players will be victorious, I just hope the Habs don’t get eliminated on a Nate Thompson goal.

Home/Analysis