Aside from detaining Flyers goalie Marty Biron at the border, it's hard to imagine what Plan B might involve because Plan A seems to be working fine everywhere but on the scoreboard.

"It's frustrating," the Canadiens coach said after the Flyers' 4-2 win Wednesday night at the Wachovia Center. "We just lost three games, and I can't sit there with the coaching staff and try to change things like the way we play, or tactically.

"I mean, we're playing great. We have scoring chances. We don't give too much. But we've lost three because Biron has been on top of his game right now. Whether he's lucky or good or extremely good, he's making the saves. That's part of the hockey game.

"I played with one guy who made those kind of saves, but we have to find a way," Carbonneau said, referring to Ed Belfour. "We've been able to pierce him in the third period. We've got to find a way to do it early so we can get that confidence back."

The respect the Habs are giving Biron is begrudging, but there's no denying he's on the cusp of stealing this series. How else can one explain the advantage the Flyers have built when they've been outplayed for most of the series by a team that led the NHL in goals in the regular season?

The Canadiens have outshot the Flyers by a whopping 142-96. They had 38 shots on goal in Game 4, missed the net 20 times, and had 19 shots blocked. In Game 3, the Habs had more scoring chances (18) than the Flyers had shots (14).

There have been long stretches in each of the games when the ice has seemed tilted in Montreal's direction. Yet the Canadiens have only 10 goals, and just six at even strength.

When opportunity has knocked, the Flyers have answered. The Canadiens have not.

"It's tough. It's frustrating," Montreal defenseman Josh Gorges said. "We're playing the way we want to play. We're getting shots, but we have to have guys in front of the net paying the price."

Before the third and fourth games, the Canadiens stressed the importance of scoring first. But they haven't done so in any of the four games.

They've scored only one first-period goal. The Flyers have scored the first two goals in each game. It's a trend that may have the Canadiens gripping their sticks a little tighter.

And although they deny it, the Canadiens must also be affected by their uncertainty in goal.

Carbonneau gambled that Jaroslav Halak, who started his first NHL playoff game Wednesday night, might get the Habs going in place of Carey Price. It was Halak's first start since March 29. There has been speculation that Price is tired, has an injured glove hand, or both.

Considering the circumstance, Halak played OK. He stopped Jeff Carter on an early breakaway. But he let in a bad goal by R.J. Umberger that gave the Flyers a 1-0 lead, and lost sight of the puck before Danny Briere broke a 2-2 tie with the game-winner.

Halak wasn't as good as Biron, which he or Price has to be if the Canadiens are to get back in the series.

"We have confidence in both goaltenders," captain Saku Koivu said. "That's not going to make a difference in how we play. I don't think there's a lot we have to change. We just have to keep pushing."