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PHILADELPHIA — The first reaction is to say the Montreal Canadiens’ unlikely playoff run is about to be steamrolled by the Philadelphia Flyers and their designation now as this post-season’s team of destiny.
Not that the Flyers haven’t earned it with their “history will be made” moment by climbing out of a 3-0 series hole and their dismissal of the choking Boston Bruins.
The Flyers seemed to carry on that momentum from their Game 7 win in their 6-0 win over the Canadiens in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference final Sunday night, making the Canadiens look ordinary in the process.
That’s pretty much what the Pittsburgh Penguins did to the Habs in Game 1 of the last series.
The Penguins, you will remember, scored four power-play goals in their 6-3 series opening win over the Canadiens, and chased goaltender Jaroslav Halak from the Montreal net. He gave up five goals on 20 shots that night.
So, Sunday night, the Flyers scored what amounted to three power-play goals (a goal by Daniel Briere came essentially on the power play, it was one second after a penalty expired) and Halak was gone, pulled for the third time this post-season (once in each series, so far) after giving up four goals on 14 shots.
Maybe this is the Flyers’ time. They certainly didn’t look to have any emotional dropoff after their comeback against the Bruins.
But the Habs also made it easier for them Sunday night.
“We lost battles, tried to make cute plays ... You try and make those little plays against them and they’ll jam them down your throat,” Canadiens defenceman Hal Gill said. “We weren’t good in front of the net. We didn’t block shots, you could go on and on. We need more oomph. We’ll learn from it.”
The Canadiens, who had been the more disciplined team for the most part through their wins over the Washington Capitals and the Penguins, played a game frought with errors in judgement and execution Sunday night.
The first and third goals the Flyers scored came on the power play or just after following undisciplined penalties by Canadiens’ Scott Gomez and Maxim Lapierre.
It wasn’t a good night for Gomez, who had a break in on the right wing with 90 seconds left in the first period, but shot the puck straight into Flyers goaltender Michael Leighton. Gomez also lost a draw and failed to block Flyers centre Claude Giroux, allowing the Flyers to make it 2-0 just 30 seconds into the second period.
Gomez capped off his night by taking a retalitory slashing penalty on Pronger in the third and was just out of the box when Flyers forward Scott Hartnell made it 5-0.
“We’ve got to stay out of the box and that starts with me,” Gomez said. “We came here for one (win). The next one is crucial for us.”
Lapierre’s roughing penalty two minutes into the second period came after it looked like referee Bill McCreary had warned him twice about that kind of thing.
Briere, who has been playing wonderful hockey for the Flyers, wired a shot from the left wing circle over Halak’s glove hand.
The Canadiens hardly made life difficult for Leighton, so they have got lots of room to improve in that area, too, though they outshot the Flyers 28-25 on the night (and now have the curious distinction of having lost all four games in which they have outshot their playoff opponents this spring).
The Flyers, a team of destiny?
Still looks like it.
But we’ll have a much better idea after Game 2 on Tuesday night.
chris.stevenson@sunmedia.ca