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: