Conference Finals- Game 5 Preview: Staring Down Elimination... Again

Offence: Montreal needs to score goals... Montreal needs to score goals.  The Canadiens have have to use their speed advantage to get pucks in behind Philadelphia defence, just like they did so successfully in game 3.  It's also time for the skilled guys not named Brian Gionta or Mike Cammalleri to score.  Thomas Plekanec was the Habs leading scorer this season with 70 points, yet has just 4 assists in his last 12 games.  Plekanec, among others (Scott Gomez, Andrei Kostitsyn) have to do more.

Defence:  The defence has not played all that bad in game 4. Aside from P.K. Subban's misplay that led to Ville Leino's goal, Claude Giroux's goal may have been stopped by Josh Gorges had he not a skate problem.  Roman Hamrlik has been solid the whole series, and the defence in general has done a better job of allowing Jaroslav Halak to see the shots.

Goal: Halak has played well enough to win every game except game 1.  The only problem with Halak right now is that he can't score goals.

Lineup: Tom Pyatt didn't finish game 4 because of an upper-body injury.  If he can't go for game 5, Mathieu Darche or Sergei Kostitsyn will.

Conference Finals- Game 3 Recap: Goals!

Finally! Montreal broke Michael Leighton's series shutout bid when Mike Cammalleri banged home a P.K. Subban rebound. The Canadiens proceeded to fill Philadelphia's net with 4 more goals enroute to a 5-1 win in game 3. The home ice win reduces the Flyers series lead to 2-1.

Offence: Tom Pyatt and Dominic Moore each had a goal and an assist on a night where Montreal outshot Philadelphia 38-28. The Canadiens were finally able to get some traffic in front of Leighton and knock in some rebounds.

Defence: Roman Hamrlik once again logged the most ice time for the Habs defence. Hamrlik collected 2 assists and finished +4 in his 23:06 on the ice. P.K. Subban turned in 3 assists and was a +3 on the night. Subban's 3 points puts him second in rookie playoff scoring behind Ville Leino. Montreal also shutout the Philadelphia powerplay on 3 chances after only killing 60% of penalties in the first two games.

Goal: Jaroslav Halak was solid in net, although it wasn't a particularly tough night for him. The Canadiens did a much better job of allowing him to see the majority of the 26 shots he faced.

The highlights:

Conference Finals- Game 1 Recap: Scorched!

For the first time in these playoffs the Canadiens did not show up to play and received an absolute routing at the hands of Philadelphia. Both teams were coming off of tremendous game 7 wins , but Montreal looked to take a break while the Flyers leveraged their momentum into a 6-0 win.

Offence: Montreal's snipers were stymied by the Flyers. Mike Cammalleri and Brian Gionta were both limited to a single shot.

Defence: P.K. Subban once again led the Habs defence in ice time but finished a -3 and chose some bad times to jump into the play and attack.

Goal: Jaroslav Halak only stopped 10 of 14 shots before being yanked in favor of Carey Price, who then allowed 2 more goals on the 11 shots he faced.

If you feel like it, the check out the lowlights below.

Markov In For Game 1?

Will Andrei Markov return for game 1 on Sunday?

Markov was out for the entire Penguins series with an injured knee. He did take part in Montreal's morning workout at Mellon Arena on Wednesday. Canadiens head coach Jacques Martin has not committed to the return of his impact defensemen, but it seems Markov is committed to play again in these playoffs.

Would he be effective?

Hal Gill, who suffered a cut on his leg in game 5, hobbled around and took penalties because he couldn't do the things he normally does on the ice. Would Markov be able to lead the defence to another series win, or would he have to take a back seat to Josh Gorges and P.K. Subban who were outstanding against the Penguins?

The best case scenario would probably see Markov return and play limited minutes until he can show he can handle a larger workload. Having Markov at less than 100% playing on the last defence pairing would be better than having Marc-Andre Bergeron back there. Bergeron can always take a wing on the 4th line and still get his powerplay time.

Round 2- Game 7: Who's Next?

Montreal earned a birth in the Eastern Conference finals set to begin on Sunday against the winner of Friday's Flyers-Bruins game. The No. 8-seeded Canadiens have taken down the Presidents' Trophy-winning Washington Capitals in Game 7 of Round 1, and now the defending Stanley Cup champions in Round 2.

Offence: Brian Gionta scored 2 powerplay goals on 6 shots and led all Habs forwards with 21:56 in ice time.
Defence: P.K. Subban played 23:01, assisted on Gionta's first goal, and finished +1 playing against Crosby all night.
Goal: Halak made 37 saves including 18 in the 3rd period. He leads all playoff goalies with a .933 save percentage. Halak is a big reason the Canadiens are the first No. 8 seed to reach the Eastern finals since the current format was adopted in 1994.

In case you missed the game, or just want to experience the glory again, check out the highlights below.