Montreal Canadiens vs. Philadelphia Flyers: Prediction, Preview, Picks & Odds - 2/24/2023

Time: 7 p.m. ET

Venue: Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, PA

Where to watch: NBCSP, TSN2, RDS

DraftKings: Flyers -145, Canadiens +125

FanDuel: NL

BetMGM: Flyers -145, Canadiens +130

Caesars: Flyers -154, Canadiens +130

Canadiens: 24-29-4

Flyers: 23-26-10

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The Montreal Canadiens will be playing the Philadelphia Flyers on Friday, February 24 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

The Montreal Canadiens won against the New Jersey Devils last Tuesday, February 21 at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey with a score of 5-2. The Montreal Canadiens currently rank 8th in the Atlantic Division.

Sam Montembeault made 38 saves for the Montreal Canadiens. Nick Suzuki and Mike Matheson each had a goal and an assist, and Christian Dvorak had two assists for the Canadiens (24-29-4), who had lost the first two of their four-game road trip.

"I felt good and was seeing the puck well," Montembeault said. "We blocked a lot of shots (28) and that helped. I remember giving up two breakaway goals on my blocker side [in a 6-2 loss at the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday] and I worked on that a lot the last few practices. I'm happy to get the stops tonight."

Montembeault, who won for the second time in his past five starts, stopped three breakaway attempts Tuesday.

Justin Barron gave Montreal a 1-0 lead at 3:54 of the first period on a snap shot from the right hash marks. Suzuki skated down the left wing and delivered a backhand pass to Barron at the top of the right face-off circle.

"I feel like we finished plays," Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis said. "I talked about not only finishing plays offensively, but to finish plays defensively. I think the past couple of games, when we got scored upon, we didn't finish the job. Tonight, I felt like we did that.

"We were able to block shots and not give them crazy Grade A chances."

Jesper Bratt tied it 1-1 at 13:48 on a snap shot from the high slot. Johnathan Kovacevic gave Montreal a 2-1 lead at 2:29 of the second period on a snap shot from the slot.

"We were really sacrificing, bringing a lot of that energy," Kovacevic said. "I feel like they're a really great team, they're fast and really on you, but they kind of gave us some Grade A chances and we capitalized, stuck to our game plan and took advantage of our chances."

Montembeault stopped Miles Wood on a breakaway at 2:47, and Suzuki made it 3-1 on a wrist shot from the top of the left face-off circle at 3:42.

Montembeault denied Brendan Smith on a breakaway after he exited the penalty box at 13:35, and later stopped Dawson Mercer on a breakaway at 2:50 of the third period.

"I had a game with two breakaways this year, but three, I'd have to look back," Montembeault said.

Rem Pitlick pushed the lead to 4-1 at 5:13 by scoring at the right post. Dawson Mercer pulled the Devils within 4-2 at 11:58 with a power-play goal on a rebound at the left post to extend his goal streak to four games (five goals).

Matheson scored an empty-net goal at 16:13 for the 5-2 final.

The Montreal Canadiens have won four of their last 10 games.

The Philadelphia Flyers lost against the Edmonton Oilers last Tuesday, February 21 at Rogers Place in Edmonton with a score of 4-2. The Philadelphia Flyers currently rank 7th in the Metropolitan Division.

Noah Cates and Owen Tippett scored, and Carter Hart made 23 saves for the Flyers (23-26-10), who were coming off a 4-3 win at the Calgary Flames on Monday and are 1-4-1 in their past six games.

"They have some superstar players that just need a little space or a little bounce, and that's why they're the best players in the world," Cates said. "I thought for the most part, when we were forechecking and getting pucks in and staying below the dots, that's our game in general, but especially against an offensive team like that, that's how we need to play. Two-and-a-half periods of that just wasn't enough tonight with those star players who just need a little time and space."

Cates gave Philadelphia a 1-0 lead at 10:01 of the first period, taking a pass from Wade Allison behind the net and scoring on a wraparound. Tyson Barrie tied it 1-1 at 19:57, scoring glove side from the point following a face-off win by Draisaitl. The goal came three seconds into a power play.

"I think we knew that if we stayed out of the box and stayed 5-on-5 it would be a close game," Tippett said. "I think for most of the night our effort was there, and it was just a few bounces."

Tippet put the Flyers back in front 2-1 at 11:37 of the second period, chipping a centering pass from Kevin Hayes over the shoulder of Skinner.

"We're a team playing four in six nights, we get bag-skated through the trip through a lousy game in Seattle (6-2 loss to the Kraken on Thursday), travel. I'm proud of the team," Philadelphia coach John Tortorella said. "We don't find a way to finish the game, the penalties hurt us tonight. I thought the team laid it out there. They did all the things we asked of them and we played a hard game, we just couldn't find a way to win."

Edmonton scored the final three goals ending the game with a score of 4-2.

The Philadelphia Flyers have won three of their last 10 games.

Prediction

The Flyers are a mess. Structure is important. Montreal, despite struggles, has that. Canadiens 5, Flyers 2

Canadiens are 9-14 off an over this season.

Canadiens are 9-18 after a road game this season.

Flyers are 9-2 on 2 days rest this season.

Canadiens:

Rafael Harvey-Pinard -- Nick Suzuki -- Josh Anderson

Mike Hoffman -- Jonathan Drouin -- Joel Armia

Rem Pitlick -- Christian Dvorak -- Evgenii Dadonov

Michael Pezzetta -- Alex Belzile -- Jesse Ylonen

Mike Matheson -- David Savard

Jordan Harris -- Justin Barron

Corey Schueneman -- Johnathan Kovacevic

Jake Allen

Flyers:

James van Riemsdyk -- Morgan Frost -- Owen Tippett

Kevin Hayes -- Scott Laughton -- Wade Allison

Nicolas Deslauriers -- Noah Cates -- Patrick Brown

Olle Lycksell -- Joel Farabee -- Kieffer Bellows

Cam York -- Rasmus Ristolainen

Ivan Provorov -- Justin Braun

Nick Seeler -- Tony DeAngelo

Carter Hart