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Canadiens vs. Flyers Round 1 Game 6: Preview, start time, how to watch – Habs Eyes on the Prize

Published

4 years ago

August 21, 2020

Harry Miller

Eastern Conference Quarter-finals: Game 6

Montreal Canadiens vs. Philadelphia Flyers

How to watch

Start time: 7:00 PM EDT / 4:00 PM PDT
In Canada: CBC, Sportsnet (English), TVA Sports (French)
In the US: NBCSN
Streaming: Sportsnet Now

Already missing their head coach for much of the series with the Philadelphia Flyers, the Montreal Canadiens were presented with more adversity fairly early on Wednesday night, losing Jesperi Kotkaniemi just over a minute into the second period after a boarding major resulted in a game misconduct.

The loss of what has arguably been the team’s best forward this post-season made the Habs’ attempt to avoid elimination that much more difficult, especially when the Flyers used that five-minute advantage to get out to a 2-1 lead, but Montreal used the ejection as motivation to get the game tied, and eventually grab the final lead on a great bit of work between Jonathan Drouin, and Nick Suzuki.

In the minutes after the winning goal, Matt Niskanen decided to take out his frustrations on Brendan Gallagher, cross-checking him in the face as Gallagher attempted to cycle the puck. As he does, Gallagher played through the pain he was experiencing, which was later revealed to be from a broken jaw, and was on the ice for a lengthy shift as the Habs closed the game out to stay alive in the playoffs.

The Philadelphia team that questioned the Canadiens putting out top offensive players in a Game 2 blowout decided that they needed to make a statement after an empty-net goal. Sean Couturier made sure to get in the path of Artturi Lehkonen as the Canadiens winger was going to celebrate the big win with teammates, knocking him to the ice, drawing a big crowd, and earning himself a penalty. Despite Muller sending out his C unit on the last-minute power play, the remaining seconds found the Flyers trying to goad the depth players into altercations.

After a busy day of news, the dust settled with a few things determined for Game 6. Kotkaniemi won’t face any more discipline for his hit on Travis Sanheim, while Niskanen will sit out tonight’s contest after getting suspended for a single game. Gallagher ends up the worst off, needing surgery to repair his jaw after the cross-check, and out for at least the duration of this series. It adds a bit more for the Habs to overcome, but so far this post-season they’ve been up to that challenge.

Tale of the Tape

Canadiens	Statistic	Flyers
Canadiens	Statistic	Flyers
2-3	Series record	3-2
52.6%	Corsi-for pct.	45.5%
2.33	Goals per game	2.38
1.78	Goals against per game	1.75
12.9%	PP%	11.4%
82.9%	PK%	82.8%

The heart-and-soul winger will certainly be missed, and the Habs’ odds of pulling out another victory drop without him available, but the Canadiens will have their full centre depth back for Game 6, and that’s proving to be a difficult thing for the Flyers to handle at five-on-five — at least when the Canadiens have a lead to work with and Philadelphia can’t just descend into shutdown mode.

Ironically, it’s been in the games that Montreal has been able to dictate the matchups that they’ve struggled to make any impression in this series, and that will be the state of things once more this evening. With last change in Games 3 and 4, the Canadiens didn’t find a single goal. They’ve averaged 3.67 in the three games when they had to make those personnel decisions first.

Now with five games to see what the Flyers have to counter with, Montreal will have a better handle on what to expect and how to take advantage. One of the keys has been to incorporate the defencemen into the neutral-zone transition, sending four players against a trap designed to stop three.

On Wednesday night, the defencemen were doing an effective job of getting the puck out of their zone with control, bypassing the first layer of the Flyers’ defence and giving the forwards less work to do to go on the attack.

Vigneault may try to be more aggressive on his forecheck to counter that, but now that even Shea Weber is composed and precise in his puck-moving, joining his partner Ben Chiarot whose transition game has gone unheralded, that plan could quickly backfire on the home side. The pairing of Jeff Petry and Brett Kulak has been the best for Montreal, with impressive underlying stats and the top ice times to go with it. And the third duo of Victor Mete and Xavier Ouellet has quietly been effective in this series as well — or at least it was quiet before Ouellet’s heads-up play to set up the opening goal while killing a penalty on Wednesday night.

The Canadiens have a more reliable group of defencemen (especially with Niskanen taking himself out of the lineup), a deeper pool of centres, and the better goaltender. With Joel Armia getting back into the offence, there’s an argument to be made that they can match what the Flyers have to offer on the wings as well.

It was clear that Montreal’s roster wasn’t as outmatched as some — included many of us — expected heading into the post-season, and now we’re seeing that when all five skaters play as a unit on the ice, there are few weaknesses that can be exploited. If the team can play that same style today, there’s a real possibility the Habs will get the series to Game 7.

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Fernandez and Dabrowski headline Canadian lineup for Billie Jean King Cup Finals

Published

3 hours ago

September 16, 2024

Anne Joseph

TORONTO – Singles star Leylah Fernandez and doubles specialist Gabriela Dabrowski will anchor Canada’s five-player lineup when the team tries to defend its Billie Jean King Cup title in mid-November.

The 26th-ranked Fernandez, the 2021 U.S. Open finalist from Laval, Que., is the lone Canadian in the top 100 of the WTA Tour’s singles rankings.

Dabrowski, from Ottawa, is ranked fourth on the doubles list. The 2023 U.S. Open women’s doubles champion won mixed doubles bronze with Felix Auger-Aliassime at the recent Paris Olympics.

Marina Stakusic of Mississauga, Ont., returns after a breakout performance last year, capped by her singles win in Canada’s 2-0 victory over Italy in the final. Vancouver’s Rebecca Marino is also back and Bianca Andreescu, the 2019 U.S. Open champion from Mississauga, Ont., returns to the squad for the first time since 2022.

“Winning the Billie Jean King Cup in 2023 was a dream come true for us, and not only that, but I feel like we made a statement to the world about the strength of this nation when it comes to tennis,” Canada captain Heidi El Tabakh said Monday in a release. “Once again, we have a very strong team this year with Bianca joining Leylah, Gaby, Rebecca and Marina, making it an extremely powerful team that is more than capable of going all the way.

“At the end of the day, our goal is to make Canada proud, and we’ll do our best to bring the same level of effort and excitement that we had in last year’s finals.”

Fernandez, who beat Jasmine Paolini to clinch Canada’s first-ever title at the competition, is ranked No. 42 in doubles.

Canada, which received an automatic berth as defending champion, will play the winner of the first-round tie between Great Britain and Germany on Nov. 17 at Malaga’s Martin Carpena Arena.

Australia, Italy and wild-card entry Czechia also received first-round byes. The tournament, which continues through Nov. 20, also includes host Spain, Slovakia, the United States, Poland, Japan and Romania.

Stakusic is up 27 spots to No. 128 in the latest world singles rankings. Marino is at No. 134 and Andreescu, the 2019 U.S. Open champion, is ranked 167th.

Canada will look to become the first team since Czechia in 2016 to successfully defend its Billie Jean King Cup title.

Malaga will also host the Nov. 19-24 Davis Cup Final 8. The Canadian men qualified over the weekend with a 2-1 victory over Great Britain in Manchester.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.

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Penguins re-sign Crosby to two-year extension that runs through 2026-27 season

Published

3 hours ago

September 16, 2024

Anne Joseph

PITTSBURGH – Sidney Crosby plans to remain a Pittsburgh Penguin for at least three more years.

The Penguins announced on Monday that they re-signed the 37-year-old from Cole Harbour, N.S., to a two-year contract extension that has an average annual value of US$8.7 million. The deal runs through the 2026-27 season.

Crosby was eligible to sign an extension on July 1 with him entering the final season of a 12-year, $104.4-million deal that carries an $8.7-million salary cap hit.

At the NHL/NHLPA player media tour in Las Vegas last Monday, he said things were positive and he was optimistic about a deal getting done.

The three-time Stanley Cup champion is coming off a 42-goal, 94-point campaign that saw him finish tied for 12th in the league scoring race.

Crosby has spent all 19 of his NHL seasons in Pittsburgh, amassing 592 goals and 1,004 assists in 1,272 career games.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.

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Slovenia’s Tadej Pogacar wins Grand Prix Cycliste de Montreal

Published

14 hours ago

September 16, 2024

Anne Joseph

MONTREAL – Tadej Pogacar was so dominant on Sunday, Canada’s Michael Woods called it a race for second.

Pogacar, a three-time Tour de France champion from Slovenia, pedalled to a resounding victory at the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montreal.

The UAE Team Emirates leader crossed the finish line 24 seconds ahead of Spain’s Pello Bilbao of Bahrain — Victorious to win the demanding 209.1-kilometre race on a sunny, 28 C day in Montreal. France’s Julian Alaphilippe of Soudal Quick-Step was third.

“He’s the greatest rider of all time, he’s a formidable opponent,” said Woods, who finished 45 seconds behind the leader in eighth. “If you’re not at your very, very best, then you can forget racing with him, and today was kind of representative of that.

“He’s at such a different level that if you follow him, it can be lights out.”

Pogacar slowed down before the last turn to celebrate with the crowd, high-five fans on Avenue du Parc and cruise past the finish line with his arms in the air after more than five hours on the bike.

The 25-year-old joined Belgium’s Greg Van Avermaet as the only multi-time winners in Montreal after claiming the race in 2022. He also redeemed a seventh-place finish at the Quebec City Grand Prix on Friday.

“I was disappointed, because I had such good legs that I didn’t do better than seventh,” Pogacar said. “To bounce back after seventh to victory here, it’s just an incredible feeling.”

It’s Pogacar’s latest win in a dominant year that includes victories at the Tour de France and Giro d’Italia.

Ottawa’s Woods (Israel Premier-Tech) tied a career-best in front of the home crowd in Montreal, but hoped for more after claiming a stage at the Spanish Vuelta two weeks ago.

“I wanted a better result,” the 37-year-old rider said. “My goal was a podium, but at the same time I’m happy with the performance. In bike racing, you can’t always get the result you want and I felt like I raced really well, I animated the race, I felt like I was up there.”

Pogacar completed the 17 climbs up and down Mount Royal near downtown in five hours 28 minutes 15 seconds.

He made his move with 23.3 kilometres to go, leaving the peloton in his dust as he pedalled into the lead — one he never relinquished.

Bilbao, Alaphilippe, Alex Aranburu (Movistar Team) and Bart Lemmen (Visma–Lease) chased in a group behind him, with Bilbao ultimately separating himself from the pack. But he never came close to catching Pogacar, who built a 35-second lead with one lap left to go.

“It was still a really hard race today, but the team was on point,” Pogacar said. “We did really how we planned, and the race situation was good for us. We make it hard in the last final laps, and they set me up for a (takeover) two laps to go, and it was all perfect.”

Ottawa’s Derek Gee, who placed ninth in this year’s Tour de France, finished 48th in Montreal, and called it a “hard day” in the heat.

“I think everyone knows when you see Tadej on the start line that it’s just going to be full gas,” Gee said.

Israel Premier-Tech teammate Hugo Houle of Sainte-Perpétue, Que., was 51st.

Houle said he heard Pogacar inform his teammates on the radio that he was ready to attack with two laps left in the race.

“I said then, well, clearly it’s over for me,” Houle said. “You see, cycling isn’t that complicated.”

Australia’s Michael Matthews won the Quebec City GP for a record third time on Friday, but did not finish in Montreal. The two races are the only North American events on the UCI World Tour.

Michael Leonard of Oakville, Ont., and Gil Gelders and Dries De Bondt of Belgium broke away from the peloton during the second lap. Leonard led the majority of the race before losing pace with 45 kilometres to go.

Only 89 of 169 riders from 24 teams — including the Canadian national team — completed the gruelling race that features 4,573 metres in total altitude.

Next up, the riders will head to the world championships in Zurich, Switzerland from Sept. 21 to 29.

Pogacar will try to join Eddy Merckx (1974) and Stephen Roche (1987) as the only men to win three major titles in a season — known as the Triple Crown.

“Today gave me a lot of confidence, motivation,” Pogacar said. “I think we are ready for world championships.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 15, 2024.

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