Montreal Canadiens' Rene Bourque (C) celebrates his game winning goal against Florida Panthers, with teammates Josh Gorges (L) and Alex Galchenyuk (R), during overtime of their NHL hockey game in Sunrise, Florida February 14, 2013.RHONA WISE/Reuters
The Philadelphia Flyers continue their six-game road trip Saturday, when they visit the Montreal Canadiens. Philadelphia split the first two games of its trek before squandering a two-goal lead in Friday's 5-3 loss at New Jersey. Wayne Simmonds, Mike Knuble and Matt Read scored in a 2:36 span midway through the first period to turn a 1-0 deficit into a lead, but the Devils netted four unanswered goals en route to their second home win over the Flyers this season.
Montreal is coming off a successful trip to the Sunshine State, where it posted a shootout win over Tampa Bay and an overtime victory over Florida. David Desharnais scored the lone goal of the bonus format against the Lightning on Tuesday, while Rene Bourque tallied 2:10 into overtime versus the Panthers two days later. The Canadiens have gone beyond regulation in three of their last four games after having eight of their first nine contests settled in 60 minutes.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, NHL Network, CSN (Philadelphia), CBC, RDS (Montreal)
ABOUT THE FLYERS (6-8-1): While defenceman Andrej Meszaros and left wing Scott Hartnell are making progress as they attempt to return from injuries, Philadelphia could be without another key player Saturday as blue-liner Kimmo Timonen sat out the third period of Friday's loss with a lower-body injury. "Hopefully, it's not too severe," fellow defenceman Luke Schenn said. "I'm not sure what happened, but it's tough to see him missing." Meszaros, who is out with a left shoulder injury, skated with his teammates Thursday but still is at least two to three weeks away from returning. Hartnell skated with the club Friday but is expected to miss another week with his broken foot.
ABOUT THE CANADIENS (8-4-1): Carey Price registered 132nd career victory in the win over Florida, bringing him within nine of moving into a tie for seventh place on the franchise list with Jose Theodore, who was in net for the Panthers on Thursday. Price trails Michel Larocque (144) by 12 for sixth place. The shutout was the 17th of Price's career, tying him with Larocque for 10th on Montreal's all-time list. His next blanking will pull him even with Wilf Cude for ninth. The Canadiens have two players in the top 10 in rookie scoring. Centre Alex Galchenyuk is tied for third with eight points, while right wing Brendan Gallagher is tied for eighth with six.
OVERTIME
1. Seven of the Flyers' eight regulation losses have come on the road.
2. Philadelphia has dominated the all-time series of late, winning three straight meetings and six of the last seven.
3. Montreal has lost four of its last five games against Atlantic Division opponents.
PREDICTION: Canadiens 3, Flyers 1