Philadelphia Flyers @ Montreal Canadiens Preview
The Montreal Canadiens and Philadelphia Flyers, two Eastern Conference rivals, will meet up this Saturday. With significant playoff implications in the offing both teams are just a few points ahead of being out of playoff contention.
With 61 points in 57 games, the 7th place Flyers sit just 2 points ahead of the 9th place Boston Bruins.
60 games into their season the Canadiens are up one point and just one spot ahead of the Philadelphia in the Eastern Conference.
Currently there are 7 teams within 5 points of one another, and there are only three available playoff spots within a reach. The Montreal Canadiens and Philadelphia Flyers appear to be in for a long playoff race that should be very entertaining for the remainder of the regular season.
Tomas Plekanec, who leads the team with 58 points, 43 assists (43 assists place him 7th in the NHL) and will continue to lead the Canadiens on Saturday. Jeff Carter leads the Flyers with his 23 goals so far this season.
The two teams played last on December 7, where the Canadians beat the Flyers 3 to 1. Friday, the two teams square off in Philadelphia and again on Saturday. 2 games in as many nights, a possible 4 points on the line here in this tight rivalry.
Phoenix Coyotes at Chicago Blackhawks – NHL Hockey Preview
The Chicago Blackhawks look to bounce back from a disappointing loss as they face a Phoenix Coyotes team that is tearing up their opposition.
The Coyotes are in excellent position to claim a playoff spot and are slowly creeping up on the elite teams in the West. They have lost just two of the last ten and are on a five-game win streak.
Goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov is at the top of his game and is helping Phoenix get those wins. Bryz is among the best goalies in the league with a 2.29 GAA and a save percentage of .920.
On the offensive side of the rink, Shane Doan is on a tear. He has 15 points in the last nine games and leads by example at both ends of the ice.
Doan was blanked in their 1-0 shootout victory over Nashville. Adrian Aucoin was the unlikely hero in the 10th round of the shootout.
Phoenix is playing really solid hockey right now and the Nashville win is a perfect illustration of that. It was a boring game to watch, but Phoenix didn’t open it up and were able to keep the crowd out of it and pick up the ugly win.
Against Chicago, Phoenix will likely try the same game-plan, but Chicago has a lot more weapons than Nashville.
Chicago came back from their season-long eight-game road trip with a 5-3 record. They then promptly dropped their first game at home 3-2 to Saint Louis.
Hawks coach Jim Quenneville felt that their turnovers handed the game to the Blues. “A lot of their goals we generated via turnovers,” he said. “A lot of our puck possession game led to their offense.”
The Hawks will come in to this game much more focused than against St Louis and should have a much stronger defensive game.
The Hawks are listed as -225 NHL odds favorites over the Coyotes +195. The over/under is 5.5 which seems a little high given both team’s strong defensive play.
This preview of the Hawks and Coyotes is provided courtesy of NHL hockey preview where you can find daily updates and previews of NHL hockey games.
