The Montreal Canadiens will be gunning for a third straight victory in Montreal Tuesday against a Philadelphia Flyers team that is hoping to decrease its nine point gap from the final playoff spot.

The Flyers have not been great in keeping the puck out of their own net this season as they rank 24th in the league with 155 goals against. But the Flyers are a more respectable 16th in goals with 145 scored, many of them with help from NHL points leader Jakub Voracek, who is tied with Tyler Seguin and Patrick Kane with 59 points.

Montreal is tied with Detroit for second place in the Atlantic Division, two points behind East-leading Tampa Bay. A victory and a Lightning regulation defeat at Nashville on Tuesday would give the Canadiens the conference lead based on having played three fewer games than Tampa Bay.

Montreal's surge continued Sunday, with Carey Price making 34 saves and Dale Weise and Max Pacioretty recording a goal and an assist apiece to help complete a season sweep of the Bruins with a 3-1 road victory.

''Who knows what's going to happen?" coach Michel Therrien said. "We don't know, but definitely, (sweeping Boston) brings some confidence. But honestly, there's still a lot of hockey to be played, and we're still a long way from the playoffs.''

Weise has scored three of his nine goals in two games, and has five points in the last three.

"(Weise) knows he's going to be the hardest worker out there and at the same time has got an undercover skill set that allows him to make plays for his linemates," said Pacioretty, who has recorded three goals and four assists in the past six contests.

Weise had two goals and Pacioretty recorded two assists against Philadelphia in November.

If the Philadelphia Flyers are to continue their run of success, they'll have to do so without their No. 1 goaltender for the immediate future.

Steve Mason won't be in Montreal on Tuesday night when the Flyers look to extend their surge and prevent the Canadiens from possibly taking over the top spot in the Eastern Conference.

Though Philadelphia (23-22-8) is 10th in the East and nine points behind Boston for the final wild-card spot, it's allowed 10 regulation goals in a 5-0-1 stretch.

Since missing six games with a knee injury, Mason had gone 3-0-1 with a 1.23 goals-against average going into Sunday's 3-1 victory at Washington. He stopped all eight shots before suffering a lower-body injury in the second period.

''He won't be coming to Montreal, so I guess it's that serious,'' said general manager Ron Hextall, who added that it doesn't appear to be the same injury that sidelined Mason last month.

Mason, though, could miss the three remaining contests on this four-game trip.

Veteran Ray Emery stopped five of the six shots he saw in relief Sunday and could make his first start since Jan. 27. Rob Zepp went 3-1-0 with a 2.92 GAA in six games before being sent to the minors last month, but he's injured, so 21-year-old Anthony Stolarz is expected to be called up.

Emery has started both of Philadelphia's games against the Canadiens this season, allowing nine goals on 66 shots as Montreal (34-15-3) won each of them. It scored the first three goals in the most recent one, a 6-3 home victory Nov. 15.

Though Philadelphia's already tough road to the playoffs likely gets more difficult with Mason's injury, the club believes it can continue to play well.

''We're in a position where we've got to win probably 80 percent of our games at this point,'' said forward Wayne Simmonds, who has three goals and two assists in five games. ''We've put ourselves in this position and we know what we've got to do. We've done it before and we have full confidence that we can do it again.''

Simmonds scored twice in a 4-3 home shootout loss to the Canadiens on Oct. 11, but was held without a point Nov. 15.

-With a file from The Associated Press