The Montreal Canadiens have come a long way from their matchup with the Philadelphia Flyers last Thursday. They dropped their fourth-straight game when the Flyers beat them 6-4, then went on to lose their fifth-straight to the Carolina Hurricanes. However, thanks to the rest of the contending teams around them losing and a three-game win streak over the Florida Panthers and Boston Bruins, the Canadiens are back in the driver's seat. Saturday night's game is a good opportunity to avenge last week's loss.
How to Watch Philadelphia Flyers vs. Montreal Canadiens
Date: Saturday, April 5, 2025
Time: 7 PM ET / 4 PM PT
Venue: Bell Centre
How to Watch: Sportsnet, City, NBC Sports Philadelphia, TVA Sports, FuboTV
The last time we did one of these, I hoped that the Matvei Michkov narrative was over now that Ivan Demidov was doing so well in the KHL and the Canadiens had their own super-rookie in Lane Hutson. However, Michkov went out last Thursday and had two goals and one assist to stick it to the Canadiens fans one more time. Saturday night marks the first time Michkov visits the Bell Centre, and it'll be interesting to see the reception he receives. Appreciation? Resentment? Or indifference?
It's starting to become apparent that as the first line goes, so does the team. They struggled last week during the losing streak, but have turned things back around over their last five games. Nick Suzuki leads the team in points with eight during that stretch, while also leading them in goals with four.
Suzuki isn't alone at the top of the points leaderboard. Lane Hutson is tied with him with eight points, with all of these coming as an assist. No one has done more to pad their awards resume than Hutson over these past few weeks, as it seems almost impossible that he doesn't win the Calder Trophy over Michkov, Macklin Celebrini, and Dustin Wolf.