Thursday, May 20, 2010
Since trailing 3-0 to the Bruins in the first period of their 4-3 Game 7 win last Friday, the Flyers have been the ones on a magic carpet ride, outscoring their opponents 13-0 and taking Games 1 and 2 of this series 6-0 and 3-0, respectively. Now, the Habs will try and call on 21,573 fans dressed in bleu, blanc et reuge to get them back into this series and stop the red-hot Flyers.
Wednesday was Flyers goalie Michael Leighton's birthday, and he has plenty of reason to celebrate, as he has become one of the feel-good stories of the playoffs. Thrown into the fire when Brian Boucher went down, Leighton has stopped 124 of 128 shots faced and is 4-0 with a 0.87 GAA and .969 save percentage.
Meanwhile, his teammates have been able to figure out Montreal goaltender Jaroslav Halak, who until this series has been the backbone of the team. Halak was chased from Game 1 after allowing four goals on 13 shots and struggled in the 3-0 loss in Game 2. But the Habs know they can't just depend on him and need to score goals and find that resilience that helped them fight back from consecutive 3-1 series deficits against the Capitals and Penguins.
"We know it’s not going to be easy. We know it’s a difficult task, but I have great confidence in the character and the determination of our players," Canadiens coach Jacques Martin said. "A lot of people in here, after Game 4 against Washington, weren’t too optimistic. This group proved them wrong. This is another time where we’re challenged, and that’s when you see the best of people."
