Canadiens Lose 3rd Game in Series; Hope to Avoid Elimination in Game 5

Well, it's downright difficult for Montreal in these playoffs now after going down 3-0 on Saturday afternoon at the Bell Centre. As a result of this loss, the team is now down 3-1 in the NHL's Eastern Conference Finals to the Philadelphia Flyers, who were uplifted by the return of both star scorer Jeff Carter and solid teammate Ian Lapierre. Carter had been missing for 11 games with a broken foot and Lapierre had been missing from the team because of a brain contusion. He had to wear a full face shield because of this health condition. As a result, regulars Dan Carcillo and Andreas Nodl became healthy scratches. Montreal, however, became less healthy in the game as the Canadiens lost quick winger Tom Pyatt in the game's second period because of an alleged upper body injury. His situation will be looked at on Sunday, according to the official TSN recap of the game (which I will link to later). About the game...the Philly goals were scored by Claude Giroux (who had 2) and also by Ville Leino to complete the final score. Goaltender Michael Leighton only needed 17 saves to make as Philly's defense absolutely nullified Montreal's speedy forwards. This was especially true in the second period as Philly outshot Montreal by a count of 13-1 in terms of shots on goal. The only shot for Montreal in the period was a horrible angle shot by Maxim Lapierre that was easily stopped by Michael Leighton. In total, the shots on goal count was 25-17 in favour of Philadelphia. Some notes about the series and the playoffs...Montreal is currently 5-0 in games where they have faced the possibility of being eliminated from these playoffs. Also too, Philly has outscored Montreal in the Eastern Finals by a 13-5 count. The five Montreal goals ALL came in their Game 3 win at the Bell Centre when the team won 5-1. This means that Michael Leighton has grabbed 3 shutout victories for the Flyers in the series. (Game 1: 6-0, Game 2: 3-0, Game 4: 3-0)  It all adds up to the WORST offensive performance that I have EVER seen an NHL team put out. All in all, it will require a gutsy and never-say-die attitude from Montreal if they have to have even a sniff of a comeback chance in these playoffs. Here's to hoping that it will be accomplished tonight at the Wachovia Centre in Philadelphia in Game 5. The game starts at 7 PM on CBC. Enjoy the game, and I will be back later. Here's the recap of Game 4: Habs in a Deep Rabbit-Hole