Friday night the second game in the first-round series between the Philadelphia Flyers and the Montreal Canadians will take place. Game 1 was a close one for 60 minutes. Can fans expect another thriller tonight?
Philadelphia Flyers: no longer under the radar
The Philadelphia Flyers made a great impression before the season was put on hold in March but when the NHL restarted, the hockey team was given few chances to seize first seed for the Stanley Cup Playoffs with big teams like the Boston Bruins, Tampa Bay Lightning and the Washington Capitals in their group. The Flyers won all three of their round robin games and as a result, they weren't only the favorite to win the series in the first round of the playoffs against the Montreal Canadians, but also one of the favorites to go all the way, and win the Stanley Cup.
The Flyers started strong in Game 1 against the Habs, but struggled to find a way past Montreal's goalie Carey Price. Thanks to a power-play goal by Jakub Voracek, Philadelphia got the lead. Montreal erased the defecit at the end of the second period thanks to a power play goal from Jakub Voracek. It turned out to be anything but a mental blow for the Flyers 'cause within twenty seconds Philadelphia took another lead thanks to Joel Farabee, who scored the eventual game-winning goal.
Montreal Canadians: leaning heavily on Price
Due to the alternative format of the Stanley Cup playoffs, some teams were given a chance to qualify, while they were actually a long way from a playoff spot before the corona break. The Montreal Canadians, among others, took advantage of this opportunity, as the team played without pressure and managed to create a big surprise by eliminating a big name like the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Qualifier series.
The Habs were again seen as the big underdog for the first round of the playoffs against the Philadelphia Flyers. Goalie Carey Price maintained his good form from last week during the first game in the series, as he kept his team in the race with some excellent saves. Montreal faced a 2-1 deficit for quite some time, but was still close to the equalizer in the final minute, wasn't it that Nick Suzuki's shot landed on the crossbar. The hockey team will have to do without their head coach Claude Julien for the rest of the first round-series, who has been hospitalized with chest pains.
Philadelphia Flyers in regulation
Due to the bad news that coach Julien of the Habs is in hospital, it is expected that Montreal will do everything possible to win Game 2 for him. Philadelphia, on the other hand, has much more depth in their forward lines and is also more stable defensively. Only with another excellent performance by goalie Price, will the Canadians be able to steal a win and tie the first-round series with Philadelphia. The Flyers only lost one of their last fifteen games and seem to have regained the form they had before the corona break.
