The Philadelphia Flyers host the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday night in their final game of the 2025-26 regular season, a 7:00 p.m. EDT start at Xfinity Mobile Arena that will air on NBCSP. Philadelphia is coming off a 3-2 shootout win over the Carolina Hurricanes on Monday that locked up third place in the Metropolitan Division.
That result pushed the Flyers into a first-round matchup with the Pittsburgh Penguins, while Montreal is headed to play the Tampa Bay Lightning. Tampa Bay has already secured the tiebreaker over Montreal with 40 regulation wins to 34, so the Canadiens arrive with their playoff path set and little left to settle in the standings.
Samuel Ersson is scheduled to start in goal for Philadelphia, giving the Flyers their usual netminder for the finale. Ersson has gone 13-11-5 this season with a 3.15 goals-against average and a.867 save percentage, but he has been sharper since the Olympics, going 5-1-0 with a 1.99 goals-against average and a.908 save percentage. He has appeared in 32 games, including 28 starts and four relief appearances.
The Flyers are also waiting on their roster to come into focus. They do not have a morning skate Tuesday, and the game-day lineup is expected to become clear around 4:30 p.m. EDT. Defenseman David Jiricek could make his Flyers debut in the finale, rookie forward Alex Bump could suit up, and veteran forwards Carl Grundstrom and Garrett Wilson could also be available. Defenseman Noah Juulsen could play as well.
Philadelphia has already leaned on durability down the stretch. Travis Sanheim, Owen Tippett, Noah Cates and Trevor Zegras have all played in every one of the team’s 81 games so far. That kind of continuity has helped the Flyers finish strong, even as both teams have continued playing through the end of the season with banged-up rosters.
One more young Flyer will also be worth watching. Porter Martone, the 19-year-old chosen by Philadelphia with its first pick in the 2025 NHL Entry Draft, has eight points in his first eight games since turning pro, with three goals and five assists. If he dresses Tuesday, it would add another layer to a game that is already more about final impressions than standings pressure.
