Flyers Win Game 4

The Flyers bounced back from their disappointing Game 3 loss and won Game 4 in hostile Montreal to take a 3 games to 1 series lead in the Eastern Conference Finals.

The Flyers did exactly what they needed to do going into Montreal for 2 games. They needed to just win 1 of those games and come back home with a 3-1 series lead. After the Flyers disappointing Game 3, they needed to step it up and take Game 4, so that the Canadiens would not have all the momentum and a series tied at 2.

The Flyers locked it down defensively, and Michael Leighton bounced back from Game 3, and recorded his 3rd shutout in 4 games of the series, as the Flyers won 3-0 in Game 4. The first period was a defensive battle with not many scoring chances, which I thought was a good thing for the Flyers, so the crowd would get slightly bored and restless. In period #2, the Flyers took over. Claude Giroux made an unbelievable solo play and beat the Montreal defense to put the Flyers on the board early in the 2nd period.

Later in the 2nd period, Chris Pronger made a great pass to Ville Leino, allowing Leino go move in on a breakaway, and Leino beat Halak to put the Flyers up 2-0 after 2 periods. In the 3rd, the Canadiens did put a lot of pressure on, but Leighton and the defense were up to the task. The Flyers had to kill off 2 power plays in the 3rd period, and then after doing so, Claude Giroux put in his 2nd goal of the game into the back of the net from his knees into the empty net to end the game.

The Flyers hardly allowed Montreal any good chances, and the Canadiens only ended up with 17 shots, after outshooting the Flyers in all 3 games thus far. Give a lot of credit to Peter Laviolette for regrouping the team in between games, and setting up the game plan, and allowing the Flyers to execute. Also, credit Matt Carle, and Chris Pronger, both of whom were really bad in Game 3, and both of whom really played well in Game 4.

Ian Laperriere and Jeff Carter both returned from injury to give the Flyers a needed boost. Jeff Carter moved onto the first line with Mike Richards and Simon Gagne, as Daniel Carcillo was a healthy scratch. I was calling for mostly Arron Asham to get scratched, but if it wasn't him, I would say Carcillo was the next guy who should have been scratched. Carter played almost 14 minutes, including a couple on the power play, and had 4 shots on goal, which is good. Laperriere replaced Andreas Nodl in the lineup, and played a little over 9 minutes, including a short period of time on the penalty kill. Blair Betts and Darrol Powe did a great job on the penalty kill. Laperriere is mostly known for his penalty killing and leadership as being a great locker room guy.

Again, the Flyers accomplished their task of taking 1 of 2 in Montreal, and now go back home for Game 5 with a 3-1 series lead. You really would love to close out this series in Game 5, so you don't give the Canadiens any life, and don't have to go back to the crappy city that is Monreal, and deal with their annoying fans. Game 5 is Monday night at 7:00.