Who? Jaroslav Halak?

Indeed, he was the man behind the mask for the Canadiens in the third period last night, when the Flyers held on for dear life to survive a 3-2 victory and take a two-games-to-one lead before a jacked-up Wachovia Center crowd in this intriguing playoff series.

Until the third period, and for every minute of Montreal's previous nine playoff games, the Habs' net was guarded by Carey Price, the 20-year-old rookie who has conjured up visions of Ken Dryden and Patrick Roy - two goalies who led the Canadiens to Stanley Cup championships in their rookie seasons.

But after Price helped the Flyers to a 3-0 lead by flubbing a shorthanded goal by Richards that made it 2-0 and giving up a rebound that R.J. Umberger pounced on for a 3-0 lead, Montreal has to be concerned. That was three goals on 12 shots.

Price's shaky performance was the continuation of a trend the Canadiens must find nerve-wracking. In the Flyers' 4-2 win in Game 2 at Montreal, two goals whistled over Price's left shoulder. And before last night, Price was 2-3 with a 3.42 goals-against average and paltry .879 save percentage in his previous five starts.

Afterward, Price's two pads were propped up by the bench in front of his locker, but he was nowhere to be found. A Montreal spokesman said Price had decided not to share his feelings about getting yanked.

"You feel for him," said Montreal captain Saku Koivu, who trimmed the Flyers' lead to 3-2 on a power play with 11 minutes, 19 seconds left in the third period and came oh-so-close to getting the tying goal past Marty Biron. "You feel for your teammates. He's part of the team, and he's being tested. He showed in the first series the way he can bounce back, so that's not a concern for us."

Asked why he pulled Price, coach Guy Carbonneau said, "I don't know. He gave up three goals?"

Carbonneau went on to say the other players are as much to blame for the loss as the goalie, and he suggested Price will be back in goal for tomorrow night's Game 4.

"He is 20 years old. You can't forget about that," Carbonneau said. "We are trying to ask this kid to be a savior for our club. Carey has proven in the past he can bounce back and come back really strong. We will sit down and see what is going to happen in the next game. I know he can come back really strong."

Otherwise, the Habs seemed confounded by how they could lose a game in which they outshot the Flyers by 34-14. How could they not score during a two-man advantage for two minutes midway through the first period?

The Canadiens probably will be hearing the pinging sound of puck against metal in their sleep. In the first period, Christopher Higgins and Alex Kovalev hit the post and Maxim Lapierre hit the crossbar. Earlier, Higgins fanned while he was parked five feet from an open net.

"You outshoot a team, 34-14, you think you're going to win a game," Higgins said. We were getting a lot of pressure, but not able to capitalize. We hit three posts in the first period there, and had a couple other chances, and there were times when we really controlled the play."

Higgins shrugged, and repeated, "We hit three posts there."