Keys to the Series

This series will be won by special teams. 

Power Play
The Habs sported the league’s best power play during the regular season, converting on 24.1 percent of its opportunities. The Bruins were able to shut down the Montreal Power Play, and that is how the Bruins were able to make round 1 a seven game series. Montreal has only converted on 9.1 percent of its opportunities during the playoffs.

The Flyers Sported the League’s second best power play converting on 21.8 percent of its opportunities. Unlike Montreal, the Flyers Power Play unit has been pretty hot. So far in the Post Season the Flyers have converted on 22 percent of their powerplay opportunities.

Penalty Kill
Both Montreal and Philadelphia finished in the middle of the pack during the Regular Season killing penalties. The post season has told a little bit of a different story.

Montreal has killed 90 percent of the other team’s man advantages this post season so far, while the Flyers have only managed to kill 77.1 percent of the other team’s man advantages.

The Flyers will need to stay out of the Penalty box as much as possible in order to defeat the Canadians. When the Flyers do end up down a man, they must maintain solid positioning, and make sure to keep the front of the net clear so goaltender Marty Biron can see the puck well. Biron, must be excellent this series and make sure he controls the rebounds for the team to be successful.

Key Players to Watch from Montreal

Carey Price – A20 year old rookie Goaltender, had a few shaky moments in round one, but ended up with decent numbers. He ended up with a 2.09 goals against average and .925 save percentage. He also recorded a pair of shutouts in the series.

Alex Kovelev – The 35 Year Old Russian had his best season since 95 putting up 35 Goals and 49 Assists. He was the top offensive Players for Montreal. Kovelev had 2 Goals and 4 assists in Round 1 Vs Boston.

The Kotitsyn Brothers- Sergei had 3 goals and 3 assists in Round one. His brother Andrei had 3 goals and 2 Assists in round one.

Saku Koivu- The Montreal Captain missed the first five games of round one, but managed to record 3 assists over games six and seven.

Key Players to Watch from Philadelphia

Marty Biron- Must be on top of his game. The Canadians have a high powered offense that will have a lot of opportunities. Biron isn’t the most athletic, or acrobatic goalie. He relies on sound fundamentals and positioning to be effective. The flyers will need him to steal at least one game.

Vaclav Prospal and Danny Briere- Since coming to Philadelphia at the trade deadline, Prospal has been the catalyst to Danny Briere’s offensive success. The two players look like they have been skating together their whole lives. The 2 combined to score 20 points in the first round of the Playoffs.

Mike Richards- Richards must have a big series if the Flyers going to have success. Richards was relied on heavily and was fairly successful to match up against probable league MVP Alexander Ovechkin in Round one.

Scott Hartnell- He must be a physical presence out on the ice. Montreal isn’t known to be a physical team. Hartnell must lead the charge by exploiting that on the Fore-check.

Defense- The Flyers do not have the quickest defensive corps in the league. In order for the Defense to be successful, they must not get caught out of position. The defense can not have too many failed clearing attempts, and NO TURN OVERS.

Game Plan for the Flyers to Succeed.

Montreal is fast, but is definitely not the toughest team in the league. The Flyers must be relentless with the Fore-check. The best way to slow down a faster team is to keep pounding the body. The Flyers can not play back on their heals when they have the lead. The Flyers blew 2 games in the first round where they had a 2 goal lead because they started to play back on their heals. The Flyers have to maintain pressure for a full 60 minutes, every game they play. If the Flyers win this series it will be in six games. They will need to split the first 2 in Montreal, Take 2 in a row at home. They lose on the road come back to Philly in game six.

My Prediction Flyers in 6.