GameDay: Habs vs Flyers Preview, Lineups, Price, Pacioretty, Rookies

All Habs GameDay: Wednesday April 3, 2013

On this day in hockey history… In 1977 – Montreal’s Guy Lafleur set a Canadiens’ club record for most points in one season — 136. It came in a 2-1 win against the Capitals at Washington.

PROJECTED LINE COMBINATIONS AND GOALTENDERS
(Will be updated following game day skate.)

Habs:

• Davis Drewiske was acquired from the Los Angeles Kings for a fifth-round draft pick in the 2013 entry draft and he will be in the lineup wearing No. 44.
• Nathan Beaulieu was returned to the Hamilton Bulldogs of the AHL.
• Carey Price will start in goal tonight vs. Flyers. Michel Therrien has announced that Peter Budaj will be in goal on Thursday night against Winnipeg.

Flyers:

• No updates at this time.

TOP SCORERS

► The Flyers trying to build off a two-game winning streak: 

• It’s been one disaster of a season so far for the Philadelphia Flyers.
• Despite having a quite respectable home record of 11-5-2, they’ve only won four games on the road all season and currently sit 13th in the East.
• Injuries sure haven’t helped; The Flyers currently have Pronger, Shelley, Briere, Grossmann, Meszaros, Coburn and Talbot in the medical bay.
• Although they’ve only won four of their last ten games, the Flyers are currently on a two-game winning streak after beating both the Boston Bruins and then the Washington Capitals at home, the latter needing overtime to decide the outcome.

►Carey Price settling in as the playoffs approach:

• Carey Price really seems to be finding his groove with the season approaching it’s end.
• In three of his last four starts, Price has only given up a single goal and in one case obtained the shutout.
• He’s tracking the puck very well through traffic and just like early on in the season, appears to often be a step ahead of the play, making what would otherwise be difficult saves look easy.
• His lateral movements are fluid and his butterfly seamless; It’s awing to watch him when he plays like this.
• Price is currently third amongst all NHL goaltenders on goals against for every 60-minutes played, with an average of 1.70.

► Max Pacioretty likes the Hurricanes:

• Back on February 18, Max Pacioretty broke out of a scoring slump against the Hurricanes after Cam Ward failed to stop a dump-in from beyond the center-ice red line.
• This was Pacioretty’s first goal of the season at the time and he has since obtained 18 points in 19 games.
• On Monday against the Hurricanes, he again broke out of a goal-scoring slump by putting one by Justin Peters, after a sweet drive to the net on an odd-man rush.

► Rookie Watch:

• Saturday night against the Rangers, Brendan Gallagher picked up an assist while Alex Galchenyuk was held off the scoresheet and only played 7:57 in total ice-time. He didn’t play one single second on the power play.
• Gallagher now totals 11 goals and 10 assists for 21 points on the season.
• Galchenyuk has amounted 3 goals and 12 assists for 15 points on the season.
• Respectively, they rank third and tied for tenth amongst rookies in the league.

Top 10 NHL Rookies / Total Points

1. Jonathan Huberdeau (FLA): 13G, 12A, 25PTS
2. Cory Conacher (TBL): 9G, 15A, 24PTS
3. Brendan Gallagher (MTL): 11G, 10A, 21PTS
4. Brandon Saad (CHI): 7G, 13A, 20PTS
5. Justin Schultz (EDM): 6G, 13A, 19PTS
6. Nail Yakupov (EDM): 7G, 11A, 18PTS
7. Vladimir Tarasenko (STL): 8G, 8A, 16PTS
8. Mike Zibanejab (OTT): 6G, 10A, 16PTS
9. Marcus Foligno (BUF): 5G, 11A, 15 PTS
10. Jakob Silfverberg (OTT) 8G, 7A, 15 PTS
11. Alex Galchenyuk (MTL): 3G, 12A, 15PTS

Jeff Halpern on his first goal in over a year:

I didn’t know what to do, don’t read too much into that celebration,” said Halpern. “It’s been a while. I just didn’t know where to look.”

“It’s almost embarrassing. It’s a frustrating thing; one game turns into two games and the weeks go by and the months go by. It feels good to contribute and it’s a great feeling to be part of this team right now.” admitted Halpern. “It’s obviously a team that’s used to winning and finds ways to win. We probably didn’t play as well as we would’ve liked to at times, but it’s fun to be a part of this group with this winning attitude.”

Josh Gorges on the team’s ability to get scoring from all lines:

“It’s something we’ve talked about and something we’re going to rely on.” said Gorges. “It’s not going to be that Plekanec’s line is the best line every night. Not every night will Desharnais’ line be able to score three goals.”

“We’re going to need different lines stepping up and tonight was just another example of that. Their line played great for us and they’ve been playing great for us since Halpy got here.” he added. “For him to go out and chip in is good for him. He’s a guy who’s going to block shots and win battles and he’s going to be a big player for us down the stretch.”