Philadelphia Flyers Put Montreal Canadiens on the Edge: The Script for Game Four

With their backs against the wall one more time, the Philadelphia Flyers shut out the Montreal Canadiens 3-0 in game four of the Eastern Conference Finals and now lead the series 3-1. The Flyers are one game away from punching their ticket to the Stanley Cup Final.

It is the third time in the playoffs the Canadiens are on the edge of elimination. In round one against the Washington Capitals the Habs came back from a 3-1 deficit to win the series. In the second round, they won two games in a row to defeat the Pittsburgh Penguins after being down 3-2.

Claude Giroux scored the first goal for the visiting team 5:04 into the second period after a great individual play. Ville Leino stretched the lead almost ten minutes later in a breakaway after a perfect feed from Chris Pronger.

Giroux got his second of the game in the final minute of regulation with an empty net.

Game five of the series will be played Monday night at the Wachovia Center, in Philadelphia.

Now, here is the game’s script:

The Main Characters:

The Hero: Claude Giroux

He was there in the perfect moment, always in position to create a scoring chance, always pushing the Flyers offense toward Jaroslav Halak’s net.

He finished the night with two goals, including an empty netter, and a faceoff win percentage of 69.

Almost six minutes into the second period Giroux sped up toward Halak and beat him top shelf after a great deke. Later, with almost a minute left in regulation, the Quebec native outskated Jaroslav Spacek to score into an open net. The coup de grace by the Flyers.

The Villain: The Montreal Canadiens

You could look through the stats sheet or watch the game again searching for a moment or a player to point out for the loss, and probably won’t find it. Truth is the Canadiens lost as a team.

Subban had a rough night, Halak wasn’t superhuman, Cammalleri only had one shot on goal and Plekanec, Kostitsyn, and Gomez are still missing in action. Nobody stepped up to the challenge and suddenly the frustration flooded the Bell Centre.

The Habs were outshot 25-17, not that there's anything wrong with that. In the past they have managed to pull a win by attacking less than their opponent—but to shoot only once in the second period, that’s a whole different story.

The Sidekick: Kimmo Timonen

The defenseman had a great game on both sides of the rink. He blocked four shots and dismantled numerous attacks by the Canadiens.

Timonen played smart, taking the first step in many occasions to break Montreal’s game and showing physical presence in front of his own net. He also collected an assist in Philly’s first goal by quickly setting Giroux’s play for the 1-0.

The Extra: Tomas Plekanec

Montreal’s best player in the regular season hasn’t scored since game six of the first round against the Capitals. That’s 12 games shooting blanks.

Plekanec needs to step up in order for the Canadiens to fight back in the series. He doesn't take advantage of having Michael Cammalleri on his side. Everybody seems to be working on their own in the first line and that is having and impact in Andrei Kostitsyn, who is also in a slump.

Key moment in the plot: Giroux’s first goal

It has been the story so far in the series. The team that scores first wins the game.

In game four it was Philadelphia who hit first. Claude Giroux flew toward the net and fooled Halak with a perfect deke. The winger took advantage of a problem Josh Gorges had with his skates.

The Flyers broke the zero in the scoreboard and the spirit of the Canadiens for the rest of the game.

Game Notes:

As reported on Twitter by Dave Stubbs of the Montreal Gazette , the Canadiens had never been shut out three times in a playoffs series.

Montreal’s powerplay is 1-16 so far in this series.

The Canadiens played their 100th game of the season.

Michael Leighton is the first goalie to earn three shutouts in a playoffs series for the Flyers.

The Quotes:

Peter Laviolette: “We didn't allow a lot of opportunities. The neutral zone was really tight, which eliminates rush opportunities.”

Jacques Martin: “I think we'll have to regroup. We know how we have to play and I think we have certain areas of our game that needs to be better.”

Ville Leino: “We were making smart plays and it gave us some good chances.”

Brian Gionta: “We just got impatient. Since the second period, we were trying to make too many plays at the blue line and against this team, they are going to step up.”

All quotations from NHL.com game recap.