GAME THREAD: GAME THREAD: NHL: MONTREAL (14-16) at PHILADELPHIA (16-12)

NHL: MONTREAL (14-16) at PHILADELPHIA (16-12)

<h3>Flyers go for consecutive wins against Canadiens</h3>

<div class="pre">Montreal (14-11-5) at Philadelphia (16-10-2) 7:00 pm EST</div>

PHILADELPHIA (Ticker) - The Philadelphia Flyers have shown agreat deal of improvement this season, but lately consecutivewins have been hard to come by.


The Flyers will look to win two in a row for the first time inmore than a month when they host the Montreal Canadiens onThursday.


After an impressive 8-2 victory over the Penguins on Tuesday,Philadelphia has 34 points through 28 games and is one pointbehind the Atlantic Division co-leaders - New Jersey and the NewYork Rangers.


Last season, the Flyers managed just 56 points in the entirecampaign - by far the worst mark in the league.


An improved offensive effort has been the key to Philadelphia'ssuccess as the club ranks first in the division with 89 goals.Both Joffrey Lupul and R.J. Umberger recorded hat tricks inTuesday's win and Mike Richards, who leads the team with 34points, tallied three assists.


Despite the high-scoring attack, the Flyers have not recordedback-to-back wins since November 10 and 12 against Pittsburghand the New York Islanders.


The Canadiens have dropped two straight and five of six aftersuffering a 3-2 shootout loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning onTuesday. Offense has been the root of the problem for Montreal,which is averaging just two goals per game over its last ninecontests.


The Canadiens earned a 5-2 win over the Flyers in the lonemeeting between the teams this season. Montreal captain SakuKoivu tallied a goal and an assist in that meeting on November1.

 

NHL: MONTREAL at PHILADELPHIA

<div class="pre">NHL AT PHILADELPHIA
STARTING GOALIES: MON - CAREY PRICE
PHI - ANTERO NIITTYMAKI

OFFICIALS: REF - DAN O'ROURKE, IAN WALSH
LIN - DEREK AMELL, LYLE SEITZ</div>

 

NHL: MONTREAL at PHILADELPHIA

<div class="pre">MONTREAL VS PHILADELPHIA - SCRATCHES

MONTREAL PHILADELPHIA

P BRISEBOIS SHOULDER D HATCHER KNEE INJURY
S BEGIN SHOULDER J DOWD HEALTHY
M RYDER HEALTHY B EAGER HEALTHY</div>

 

NHL: MONTREAL at PHILADELPHIA

<div class="pre">NHL MONTREAL 0
PHILADELPHIA 0 19:55 LEFT, 1ST PRD</div>

 

NHL: MONTREAL at PHILADELPHIA

<div class="pre">NHL MONTREAL 0
PHILADELPHIA 0 18:55 LEFT, 1ST PRD</div>

 

NHL: MONTREAL at PHILADELPHIA

<div class="pre">NHL MONTREAL 0
PHILADELPHIA 0 16:05 LEFT, 1ST PRD</div>

 

NHL: MONTREAL at PHILADELPHIA

<div class="pre">NHL MONTREAL 0
PHILADELPHIA 0 13:30 LEFT, 1ST PRD</div>

 

NHL: MONTREAL at PHILADELPHIA

<div class="pre">NHL MONTREAL 0
PHILADELPHIA 0 12:00 LEFT, 1ST PRD</div>

 

NHL: MONTREAL at PHILADELPHIA

<div class="pre">NHL MONTREAL 1
PHILADELPHIA 0
1ST PRD: MON - (PP) CHRIS HIGGINS 13 (ANDREI MARKOV, SAKU KOIVU) 8:17</div>

 

NHL: MONTREAL at PHILADELPHIA

<div class="pre">NHL MONTREAL 1
PHILADELPHIA 0 8:00 LEFT, 1ST PRD</div>

 

NHL: MONTREAL at PHILADELPHIA

<div class="pre">NHL MONTREAL 1
PHILADELPHIA 0 4:00 LEFT, 1ST PRD</div>

 

NHL: MONTREAL at PHILADELPHIA

<div class="pre">NHL MONTREAL 1
PHILADELPHIA 0 1:02 LEFT, 1ST PRD</div>

 

NHL: MONTREAL at PHILADELPHIA

<div class="pre">NHL END OF THE 1ST 1ST 2ND 3RD TOTAL
--- --- --- -----
MONTREAL 1 1
PHILADELPHIA 0 0 END OF THE 1ST

GOAL SCORING:

1ST PRD: MON - (PP) CHRIS HIGGINS 13 (ANDREI MARKOV, SAKU KOIVU) 8:17

SHOTS ON GOAL: 1ST 2ND 3RD TOTAL
--- --- --- -----
MON 7 7
PHI 10 10

GOALIES: MON - CAREY PRICE
PHI - ANTERO NIITTYMAKI</div>

 

NHL: MONTREAL at PHILADELPHIA

<div class="pre">------------------------
Montreal 1 --1
Philadelphia 0 --0
------------------------

FIRST PERIOD -- Scoring: 1, Montreal, Chris Higgins 13 (power play)
(Andrei Markov, Saku Koivu), 8:17. Penalties: S Hartnell, Phi
(slashing), 6:39; R Potulny, Phi (holding stick), 17:50.

Shots on goal:
-----------------------------
Montreal 7 --7
Philadelphia 10 --10
-----------------------------

Goalies : Montreal, Carey Price (10 shots, 10 saves). Philadelphia,
Antero Niittymaki (7 shots, 6 saves). Referees: Dan O'Rourke, Ian
Walsh. Linesmen: Derek Amell, Lyle Seitz.</div>

 

NHL: MONTREAL at PHILADELPHIA

<div class="pre">NHL MONTREAL 1
PHILADELPHIA 0 19:55 LEFT, 2ND PRD</div>

 

NHL: MONTREAL at PHILADELPHIA

<div class="pre">NHL MONTREAL 2
PHILADELPHIA 0
2ND PRD: MON - ANDREI KOSTITSYN 5 (TOMAS PLEKANEC) 0:21</div>

 

NHL: MONTREAL at PHILADELPHIA

<div class="pre">NHL MONTREAL 2
PHILADELPHIA 0 19:06 LEFT, 2ND PRD</div>

 

NHL: MONTREAL at PHILADELPHIA

<div class="pre">NHL MONTREAL 2
PHILADELPHIA 0 16:00 LEFT, 2ND PRD</div>

 

NHL: MONTREAL at PHILADELPHIA

<div class="pre">NHL MONTREAL 3
PHILADELPHIA 0
2ND PRD: MON - (PP) MARK STREIT 3 (ALEXEI KOVALEV, TOMAS PLEKANEC)
5:01</div>

 

NHL: MONTREAL at PHILADELPHIA

<div class="pre">NHL MONTREAL 3
PHILADELPHIA 0 11:55 LEFT, 2ND PRD</div>