Habs Solve Leighton In A Big Way-Habs 5, Flyers 1

The Montreal Canadiens broke Michael Leighton's long shut out streak early and put 4 more by him enroute to a 5-1 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers in game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals. Mike Cammalleri sent the already loud Montreal crowd into a frenzy when he beat Leighton 7:05 into the 1st to give the Habs their first lead of the series. The Habs would open up a 4 goal lead 2 minutes into the 3rd with goals by Tom Pyatt, Dominic Moore and Brian Gionta before the Flyers would get one back. Marc Andre Bergeron added some insurance with 31 seconds to go in the game when he scored the fifth goal on a Habs 5 on 3. PK Subban had a 3 point night, while Moore, Pyatt and Roman Hamrlik each had 2 points. Jaroslav Halak was nearly perfect making 25 saves for the win. Leighton finished the night with 33 saves for the Flyers. The Canadiens power play finally got on the board, going 1 for 6 on the night, while the penalty kill was great killing all 3 Flyers chances. The game was chippy, especially late as the Flyers did what they always do and turned into thugs. Some other thoughts from a huge win:

>Lapierre drove the Flyers bananas all night. He played on the edge but did not cross it which is exactly what he has to do. His line with Pyatt and Moore simply outworked Philadelphia on almost every shift.

>O'Byrne and Pouliot returned to the lineup replacing Darche and S. Kostitsyn. O'Byrne started the game but took a penalty that shift for shooting the puck over the glass and played just 1:34 total. Pouliot showed some good things and played more than he has been.

>The entire defence corp played well tonight, especially Subban and Hamrlik. They combined for 5 points and were +7.

This was almost a must win game and the Canadiens came out with a clutch effort. They used their speed and worked extremely hard for the full 60 minutes. Now the goal is to take game 4 and even things up heading back to Philly. The Silver Wolf Whiskey Hab of the Game was a difficult one to pick tonight. So many guys had great games, but I settled on Roman Hamrlik. Hammer had 2 assists, was a rock in his own end and even got in a fight. Consideration also given to Lapierre and Moore (and you too PK). Game 4 goes Saturday afternoon back at the Bell Centre.