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With backs against the wall, Habs win Print
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Written by Brett Friedlander   
Friday, May 21, 2010 00:46
If the first two rounds of this year’s playoffs are any indication, all the Montreal Canadiens needed to get themselves going was a little adversity.

This time they found it by losing the first two games of their Eastern Conference Final series against Philadelphia, both by shutouts.

But just as they did in earlier series upsets of regular-season Washington and defending Stanley Cup winners Pittsburgh, the Canadiens got back up off the ice with a vengeance Thursday.

Leading scorer Michael Cammalleri finally got his team on the board with his 13th postseason goal, igniting Montreal to a 5-1 rout at the Bell Centre that cut the Flyers’ series lead in half.

Game 4 is scheduled for Saturday in Montreal.

“We are a much better team when our backs are against the wall,” said Brian Gionta, who also added a goal for the Canadiens. “We've dealt with it all year.”

Montreal certainly played like a desperate team in Game 3.

That sense of urgency, combined with a raucous home crowd and a strategy that called for increased traffic in front of Philadelphia goalie Michael Leighton, paid early dividends just seven minutes into the game.

Distracted by the congestion around his crease, Leighton wasn’t able to control the rebound a deflected right-point slap shot by P.K. Subban. The puck bounced off the rear boards, where Cammalleri picked it up and put it into the net.

The goal was Montreal’s first of the series and the first allowed by Leighton since Game 7 of the Flyers’ second-round victory against Boston – a streak covering 172:05.

"We knew they were going to come out hard,” Philadelphia defenseman Kimmo Timonen said. “It was a big game for them.”

Feeding off the early boost of momentum, the Canadiens began putting even more pressure on Leighton, who lost for the first time since replacing injured starter Brian Boucher midway through Game 5 of the Boston series.

Nine minutes after Cammalleri broke the ice, Tom Pyatt outskated defenseman Matt Carle to a loose puck just outside the crease and poked it into the net for a 2-0 lead.

Dominic Moore scored in the second period, while Gionta and Marc-Andre Bergeron added third-period markers as the Canadians crowd taunted Leighton, chanting his name over and over.

The five goals turned out to be more than Montreal goalie Jaroslav Halak needed to get his team back into the series.

Halak stopped 25 of 26 Philadelphia shots, losing his shutout bid midway through the final period on a goal by Simon Gagne. That was the only highlight for the Flyers, who were dominated in virtually every statistical category while being outshot 38-26.

While Canadiens coach Jacques Martin was thrilled by his team’s sudden scoring outburst, he was even happier with the way the goals came about.

Montreal is now 8-2 in the postseason when it scores first, compared to 1-6 when it does not.

“I think that, to me, what's important is the process,” he said. “The goals are a result of actions, and I think sometimes if your focus is on the result, you miss the boat. I liked the way we played. I liked the way we executed.”

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Last Updated on Friday, May 21, 2010 01:07