The Philadelphia Flyers (6-5-1) hit the road to take on the Montréal Canadiens (9-3-0) Tuesday night at the Bell Centre. The puck is scheduled to drop at 7pm/ET.
The Flyers couldn’t have gotten their recent five-game homestand off to a better start. Philadelphia went 3-0-0 and improved their record at Xfinity Mobile Arena to 6-1-0 following a 4-1 win last Thursday over the Nashville Predators. The once triumphant winning streak for the Orange and Black came to a halting stop when two teams from up north came to town.
In the Flyers’ first back-to-back contests of the season, both the Toronto Maple Leafs and Calgary Flames left Philadelphia with two points each. On Saturday, Toronto scored four unanswered goals after Christian Dvorak opened the scoring for the Flyers, which became far out of reach for Philadelphia to come back.
Even worse off was Tyson Foerster, who came out of the game with a lower-body injury after blocking a shot. Foerster missed Sunday’s matchup with the Flames, and his injury jumbled all four lines. It seemed like the Flyers never played hockey with one another before against the Flames – the NHL’s worst team – as Jonathan Huberdeau’s two goals were enough for Calgary to hand the Flyers a 2-1 loss. What once was an impressive homestand was completely erased.
“Two lackadaisical games, that’s what’s wrong with that. We didn’t have the will to win those games, and I think the fans deserved a better product the last two games,” Flyers head coach Rick Tocchet said.
Now the Flyers find themselves leaving Philadelphia, which may be just what they need to get back in the win column.
The Flyers have a tough task ahead of them as the Canadiens have won five of their last six contests. The Canadiens’ 18 points puts them third in the league and their 3.67 goals per game is second-most in the NHL. Meanwhile, Philadelphia’s 2.58 goals allowed per game is the fifth-best amongst all 32 teams. Montreal’s offensive surge is even more commendable as they’re doing this without seven-time 20-goal scorer Patrik Laine as he underwent core muscle surgery last month.
Montréal will also be without defenseman Kaiden Guhle too due to a lower-body injury.
The Flyers won’t have Foerster, Sam Ersson (lower-body), and Rasmus Ristolainen (triceps). Emil Andrae was recalled Monday afternoon after the Flyers placed Foerster on IR. Andrae enters the lineup tonight for Egor Zamula.
Dan Vladař starts in net for Philadelphia. Vladař was pulled in the matchup with the Maple Leafs after stopping 15 of 19 shots (.789 SV%), his worst game statistically this year. Besides the blunder in the Toronto game, Vladař’s first month as a Flyer was incredible going 4-2-0 with a 1.67 GAA and .939 SV%, which played a vital role in Philadelphia’s early victories.
“He’s given us a quality start every game. People say he had an off night; I didn’t think he was that bad,” Tocchet said about Vladař following the Maple Leafs outing. “I think we backed in on some of the goals, it’s tough. He’s been a trooper and true professional since he’s been here. He’s given us a chance to win every night.”
Philadelphia’s keys to success to help out Vladař will be limiting the Canadiens’ power play. Although the Flyers have the league’s top penalty kill percentage (90.5%), Montréal’s man advantage ranks sixth in the league (28.6%) and has netted five power play goals across their current three-game win streak.
The Flyers also need to shoot the puck and apply pressure on the opposition, something that’s been an issue. The Flyers are dead last in shots on goal per game with 23.5 and have 18 shots in two of their last three matches.
“We’ve got to find a way to get more offense, second opportunities, third opportunities, jump on loose pucks. It seems like we’re one and done,” Sean Couturier said. “We’ve got to simplify it, go to the net, put pucks there, and get two or three guys banging to recover pucks. Go back to the basics.”
Philadelphia’s Player to Watch: Travis Sanheim
Travis Sanheim began the season tallying four points in four games. He’s been kept off the scoreboard since and Tocchet mentioned that Sanheim needs to stay more in a shooting position and when he has the opportunity or a lane to utilize his shot. Tonight feels like Sanheim could pick up a point or two.
Montréal’s Player to Watch: Cole Caufield
Already leading the league in goals, Cole Caufield is one half of a blossoming dynamic duo alongside Nick Suzuki in Montréal. Caufield has four multi-goal outings this season so far and registered a point in 75% of his games played. He’s had success against the Flyers over his career, scoring six goals and nine points in 10 showings.
Where: Bell Centre; Montréal, QC
When: 11/4/2025; 7pm/ET
TV Broadcast: NBC Sports Philadelphia
Last Game PHI: 11/2/2025; 2-1 L; vs. Calgary Flames
Last Game MTL: 11/1/2025; 4-3 W; vs. Ottawa Senators
Flyers Projected Lines
#46 Trevor Zegras – #22 Christian Dvorak – #74 Owen Tippett
#29 Nikita Grebenkin – #27 Noah Cates – #11 Travis Konecny
#39 Matvei Michkov – #14 Sean Couturier – #10 Bobby Brink
#18 Rodrigo Ābols – #78 Jacob Gaucher – #19 Garnet Hathaway
#8 Cam York – #6 Travis Sanheim
#24 Nick Seeler – #9 Jamie Drysdale
#36 Emil Andrae – #47 Noah Juulsen
#80 Dan Vladař
(#35 Aleksei Kolosov)
Canadiens Projected Lines
#13 Cole Caufield – #14 Nick Suzuki – #20 Juraj Slafkovský
#76 Zack Bolduc – #77 Kirby Dach – #11 Brendan Gallagher
#15 Alex Newhook – #91 Oliver Kapanen – #93 Ivan Demidov
#17 Josh Anderson – #71 Jake Evans – #90 Joe Veleno
#8 Mike Matheson – #53 Noah Dobson
#47 Jayden Struble – #48 Lane Hutson
#72 Arber Xhekaj – #45 Alexandre Carrier
#35 Sam Montembeault
(#75 Jakub Dobeš)
