Well, the Flyers have done it, they have captured the first seed in the Eastern Conference after a commanding 4-1 victory against the Lightning on Saturday. Nic Aube-Kubel scored the first two goals of the game and Farabee put in the dagger off a one-timer feed from Shayne Gostisbehere. Carter Hart locked the door once again, allowing only one goal and stopping every shot at even strength.

Goal Farabee. #AnytimeAnywhere | #PHIvsTBL pic.twitter.com/SIlegyXNqW

— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) August 9, 2020

What’s Next

Now that the first seed is officially captured, our opponent is locked in… the Montreal Canadiens. Yes, the 24th seed in the league and the team who got swept by the Red Wings, those guys. The Flyers went 2-1 against the Canadiens in the regular season and lost the final matchup 4-1. On paper the Flyers matchup much better than the Canadiens do, but anything can happen in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The Stanley Cup Playoffs open on August 11th, and after the conclusion of the Toronto/Columbus series I’m sure we will have the schedule for the first couple playoff games.

Price vs. Hart

As a hockey fan, this HAS to get you excited. Ever since Carter Hart has made his way into the NHL he’s been compared to Carey Price, and now he has a chance to battle him in a best-of-seven series; and it’s going to be a good one. Price, who is now 32, has been the centerpiece for the Canadiens ever since he became a starter, and reasonably so. For a while he was the unquestioned best goaltender in the league, but while he’s still extremely good, he’s not that anymore.

Price vs. Hart Playoff Statistics (2020):

Hart: 2 GP, 1.00 GAA, .966 SV%, 2-0.

Price: 4 GP, 1.67 GAA, .947 SV%, 3-1.

As you can see both of these goalies have been lights out. At a glance it does appear Hart has the slight edge in statistics, but the argument can be made for Carey Price playing 2 more games all against the Penguins and still posting elite numbers. To me this is the most exciting matchup of the series, two franchise goalies battling it out for a chance to move on. Let’s see if the young Carter Hart can get it done.

Hart stops Kucherov on the breakaway #AnytimeAnywhere pic.twitter.com/F7dA7RxTgv

— Here’s Your Replay ⬇️ (@TheReplayGuy) August 9, 2020

Injuries

Injuries in these playoffs have been insanely hard to get a read on, as they just deem a player “unfit to play.” As of now the Flyers are missing Michael Raffl and Jakub Voracek, and we have no timetable for their return. One can only hope it will during this upcoming series.

As for the Canadiens they’ve been pretty healthy, which has been a big reason as to why they’ve even made it to this point. The only injury on their books right now is defenseman Jake Evans, who is day-to-day.

Prediction

As a Flyers fan I believe now is the time to be confident, we are just rolling. All year as fans we have had doubts

“What if they return to old form?”

“Can this core actually be consistent?”

“Win ten, lose ten, seen it before”

I have to say, all of my doubts this year have been proven wrong. No longer are the days of eight goalies and extreme mediocrity… we have a contender now. I think we are a more complete team than the Canadiens, top-to-bottom. Even with injuries to some important pieces, I believe the Flyers will win this series 4-1 with a lot of those games being low scoring, physical, goaltending duels.

Overall I just feel like now is not the time to be humble, after all we’re number one right?

Bring it on Montreal.

Ladies and gentlemen, your first seed Philadelphia Flyers.

We want Montreal. Bring it the fuck on. #AnytimeAnywhere pic.twitter.com/3vcoTPhD69

— TLY (@TheLibertyYell) August 9, 2020