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 2 Recap: No Goals Again

Another 3-0 shutout and Montreal is now down 2 games to Philadelphia.  The Canadiens came out the gate with a fury, outshooting the Flyers 16-6 at the first intermission.  The rest of the game followed a similar pattern with the Habs controlling the puck more, winning more faceoffs, getting more shots on goal and turning the puck over less.  Of course, all that doesn't mean shit if you don't score a goal.

Offence: Mike Cammalleri  led all forwards in TOI, logging 24:16.  Brian Gionta fired 8 shots at Michael Leighton after only getting 1 SOG in game one.  Leighton has made 58 straight saves during his shutouts in game 1 and game 2.  Montreal's forwards have to pick it up, especially guys like Thomas Plekanec, Scott Gomez and Andrei Kostitsyn.  None of these guys have scored a goal since round 1.

Defence: Roman Hamrlik led the defence again, playing almost 25 minutes and wasn't on the ice for a goal against.  Jacques Martin chose to leave Ryan O'Byrne out of the lineup again.  Eventhough O'Byrne would be the best defencemen to deal with Flyers forwards buzzing around Jaroslav Halak.

Goal: Halak let in three goals on 20 shots, the last one being extremely weak.  It didn't matter though, only the first one matters when your team gets shutout.

Quote: "You don't score, you don't win." -Scott Gomez

The lowlights:

Round 3- Game 1 Preview: Who's Got Richards?

Key matchup: Mike Richards vs. Anybody

Will the Canadiens be able to match up anybody effectively against Mike Richards? During the Boston series Richards contained Marc Savard, took out David Krejci, and frustrated Zdeno Chara.  If Montreal can find someone to keep Richards busy, will Daniel Briere, Simon Gagne or Claude Giroux bust loose?

Key Stats:  1.55 GAA, .943 SV%

Michael Leighton hasn't had anyhere close to the workload that Jaroslav Halak has, but his average numbers are actually better when compared with Halak's 2.42 GAA and .930 SV%.

Injuries:

Canadiens: D Andrei Markov (knee), D Paul Mara (shoulder)

Flyers: G Brian Boucher (knee), C Jeff Carter (foot), G Ray Emery (hip), RW Ian Laperriere (conncussion)

Notable:

Bob Gainey's plan to put together a team that knows how to win in the playoffs could become even more apparent in this series.  The Habs have a combined 5 cup rings on their roster (Scott Gomez (2), Brian Gionta, Travis Moen, Hal Gill) compared to only Chris Pronger's ring for the Flyers.

Quote:
"In your face, ugly and obnoxious" – Gill on the Flyers.