Flyers flattened in Montreal
Canadiens 5, Flyers 1
Flyers flattened in Montreal
Rich Hofmann, Daily News Sports Columnist
The Flyers' first question on a night like this is simple enough:
Did someone get the number of that autobus?
Run over -- that is what happened to the Flyers on Thursday night in the Bell Centre. They arrived in Montreal with a 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven conference final series against the Canadiens. They left the arena with only a 2-1 advantage, and with several loose molars.
Final score: Canadiens 5, Flyers 1.
That the Canadiens got a lot braver with every degree of latitude that they were able to put between themselves and the Wachovia Center was obvious enough. But they also got faster. What had been a one-sided series on the scoreboard -- the Flyers' had a 9-0 advantage in the first two games -- has now been completely turned on its head.
Chris Pronger and Matt Carle, the Flyers' top defense pair, had a particularly tough night. They were on the ice for all four Montreal goals. Pronger had not been on the ice for a 5-on-5 goal since the first period of Game 3 of the Boston series -- more than seven full games overall, an amazing streak. But he had an especially egregious turnover that led to the Canadiens' second goal, a score by Tom Pyatt that had to be confirmed by a replay review because of the tangle of sticks and skates that the puck seemed to hit before going in. As for Carle, he appeared to be outmuscled in a couple of key spots.
The Canadiens had a ton of good scoring chances and decisively outshot the Flyers in the game. That said, Flyers goaltender Michael Leighton made some excellent saves. However, he also let in a puck that sneaked through his pads on Montreal's third goal by Dominic Moore.
Simon Gagne's spinaround goal at 8:22 of the third period finally got the Flyers on the scoreboard. It was the only puck they got past Canadiens goaltender Jaroslav Halak, who made several big early saves -- two on Claude Giroux, and another on Ville Leino, to name three -- but was not taxed overall. After his first two games in the series, it was the kind of game he needed -- because he is still an enormous part of any success the Canadiens will hope to have.
Now, the key question for the Flyers will be this: how short are their memories?
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I don't get why they keep coming out flat in the first period. This game was what I expected, but I thought the Flyers would have more energy. I hope they come out gunning in game four!— socalphillyguy
Comment removed.- Anyone who thought this would be easy should now see this is going to be a long hard slog.— Krusty
- They turned the puck over a million times. It was a team loss. Of course the first time the flyers lose in the series is the lead story on espn news.— liberty_bell
- habs shot their wad tonight! flyers will bounce back! go flyers!!— kathy townsend
- yea it was the crowd noise.. r u joking? you get paid to write that... everyone knew this was going to be Montreal's best game and we had our worse and they still needed power plays to score... What i will say is the announcers are horrible— fman727
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- Chris Pronger and Braydon Coburn were absolutely toxic to the team tonight. Turning the puck over four times, taking four bad penalties. Just bad hockey.— phillyphan11
- Let them have a home win to go along with that soccer song they like to sing. I like the fight that the boys showed in the third period ... you know, the sort of resolve that could not be found within the Frenchy puff pastry Habs. They were awfully brave at home though. It's a series -- GAME ON!!— mwilgus
- no panic can't win them all!! wake up call!! lavy will have them ready to roll saturday!! bet on it!! flyers will win this series!!— kathy townsend
- Defense was poor tonight. That said, Leighton looked hapless on every single goal.— eagle1971
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- So far, each team has held serve. It's time to see if the Flyers can up their game a notch to take game 4 to take command of the series.— vejjev
- Could the Versus idiots (Joe Benanati, who also calls Craps games during the season) kiss the a** of Montreal fans anymore?? They're good fans, no doubt, but the way these idiots were going on was ridiculous. As for the Flyers, we all knew Montreal was going to play their best game tonight. Just get a split up there on Saturday and all will be well. Montreal didn't make plays, rather the Flyers just made lazy mistakes and gave Montreal some chances. This is nothing that can't be fixed, and if it is, it will be silent in Montreal by the end of Saturday. GO FLYERS!!!— cnova000
- Canadiens skate faster - much faster and that's what will win the Series - not the dirty play of the Flyers... it doesn't intimidate anyone.— joseelr
