NBCSN will continue its coverage of the 2015-16 campaign tonight when the Philadelphia Flyers host the Montreal Canadiens at 7:30 p.m. ET. If you want to watch the game online, you can do so here.
December was a month to forget for the Montreal Canadiens, but they couldn’t have asked for a better start to the new year.
The Canadiens embarrassed Boston, 5-1, in last Friday’s Winter Classic at Gillette Stadium.
Brendan Gallagher, who returned to action after missing 17 games with broken fingers, had a huge impact on the outcome of that game.
Gallagher scored a goal and an assist against the Bruins and now has 10 goals and 21 points in 23 games in ’15-16.
“Brendan’s return did everybody some good,” teammate David Desharnais said after the win over Boston. “We got goals from practically every line tonight. That’s how it was at the start of the year and that’s how it has to stay if we want to win games.”
This is will be the final game of Montreal’s eight-game road trip. They haven’t played at the Bell Center since Dec. 17.
The Flyers return home after a disappointing west coast road trip that saw them lose to Anaheim, San Jose and Los Angeles.
Through 37 games, the Flyers have only managed to pick up 37 points. That won’t be good enough if they hope to make the playoffs, so putting an end to their three-game slump will be crucial.
Philadelphia is seven points behind Boston for the final Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference.
Part of the problem for the Flyers has been their poor play on special teams and their inability to score goals.
They currently have the 27th power play in the NHL (16.4 percent), while the penalty kill is 26th (77.3 percent).
Their PK unit killed only 50 percent of the oppositions power play opportunities during their road trip through California.
Only the Ducks have scored less often than the Flyers (78) this season.
This will be the first of three meetings between Montreal and Philadelphia.
