Philadelphia @ Montreal preview

Last Meeting ( Jan 19, 2019 ) Philadelphia 5, Montreal 2

The Philadelphia Flyers' fast track toward success over the last month saw a rare misstep in the last outing, with celebrated rookie Carter Hart receiving an unexpected seat on the bench midway into the first period. After surrendering three goals on nine shots, Hart and the Flyers look to regain their footing on Thursday when they visit the Montreal Canadiens.

"We didn't give Carter a chance," interim coach Scott Gordon said after Philadelphia lost for just the third time in 15 games (12-2-1) with Tuesday's 5-2 setback to white-hot Tampa Bay. "He's bounced back before. I don't have any concerns. I want him to be ready for Thursday." Hart had emerged victorious in 10 of his previous 11 starts, including a 33-save performance in a 5-2 victory in Montreal on Jan. 19 that allowed the Flyers to extend their winning streak to five games in the series. The Canadiens, who are 5-0-2 in their last seven contests at Bell Centre since that defeat, snapped a four-game skid overall with Tuesday's 3-2 win versus Columbus. "We knew, everyone knew, that this was the biggest slump of the year. That one's out of the way, now we just got to focus on the next one," said Max Domi (club-best 32 assists, 52 points), who has scored three times in his last two contests overall to reach the 20-goal plateau for the first time in his career.

TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, NBCS Philadelphia, TSN2, RDS (Montreal)

ABOUT THE FLYERS (28-25-7): Oskar Lindblom extended his point streak to three games after scoring his third goal in two contests, but the 22-year-old Swede fixated on Philadelphia being struck down by a porous start on Tuesday. "We can't start like that if we want to win games," Lindblom said. "... We can't get out there in the first period and don't want to play. We can't do that." The Flyers will be without burly defenseman Radko Gudas, who was suspended two games by the NHL on Wednesday for high-sticking Tampa Bay forward Nikita Kucherov.

ABOUT THE CANADIENS (32-21-7): Former Hart and Vezina Trophy recipient Carey Price helped Montreal elevate to the top wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference by turning aside 31 shots against the Blue Jackets for his first win since Feb. 7. "Teams that are winning are getting great goaltending. We've got that right now from him," Canadiens head coach Claude Julien said. "Even the games we didn't win, he's been good. He's been good for quite a while now. He's back to the Carey that we all know." The 31-year-old Price sat out the first meeting with Philadelphia but is expected to get the nod on Thursday and boasts a 13-11-1 mark with two shutouts, a 2.65 goals-against average and .915 save percentage in 26 career appearances versus the Flyers.

OVERTIME

1. Philadelphia C Sean Couturier, who leads the team with 24 goals, collected his fourth straight multi-point performance on Wednesday to boost his point total to 27 (nine goals, 18 assists) in his last 19 games.

2. Canadiens LW Tomas Tatar has 11 points (five goals, six assists) in his last 12 contests, including an assist on Domi's third-period goal against the Flyers.

3. Philadelphia captain Claude Giroux, who leads the team in assists (44) and points (61), has been held off the scoresheet in three consecutive games.

PREDICTION: Canadiens 2, Flyers 1