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Round 2, Game 5: Flyers send Canadiens packing
posted by Kevin Mio at 18h18 EST on May 3
The Canadiens scored the first goal of the game for the first time in the series when Tomas Plekanec redirected a Patrice Brisebois shot from the point 4:29 into the opening period.
But the Flyers got that one right back when R.J. Umberger, who has killed the Canadiens the entire series, scored a highlight goal at the midway point of the first period. Umberger's original shot was stopped by Carey Price, but Umberger was able to gather the rebound while sliding in his knees and slid it past Price's right pad.
Alex Kovalev gave the Canadiens the lead again 1:08 later when a Maxim Lapierre shot from the side of the net went off Kovalev's skate abd between Martin Biron's legs.
Montreal grabbed a two-goal lead 8:15 into the second period when Christopher Higgins beat Biron with a snap-shot from the faceoff circle. Saku Koivu had an assist on the goal, giving him a point in every game he has played in the postseason since returning from a foot injury and was one of the best faceoff men for Guy Carbonneau.
But the Flyers wouldn't go down easily and battled back with three goals in the last six minutes of the second period to grab a 4-3 lead heading into the third period.
The Flyers made it 3-2 at 14:02 when Umberger's shot went off Mike Richards in front of the net and fooled Price. Umberger tied the game only 1:42 later when he surprised Price from behind the net and caught the goaltender out of position along the post.
The Canadiens then got caught on a bad change as Scott Hartnell left alone in the neutral zone and he was sent in alone on Price by Kimmo Timonen. Hartnell beat Price to the glove side with a perfect shot that went off the inside of the far post and into the net for a 4-3 Flyers lead.
Andrei Kostitsyn, who had missed several golden scoring chances in this series, tied the game 4-4 2:13 into the third period with a quick wrist shot from the slot that Biron has no chance on.
Guillaume Latendresse had Biron beat with about four minutes to play, but hit the post and that proved costly for the Canadiens.
Scottie Upshall scored the game-winning goal with 3:04 to go in the game by deflecting a Jeff Carter shot from the point in mid air over Price's shoulder.
Mike Knuble finished off the scoring with an empty-net goal.
The Flyers outshot the Canadiens 37-34. The Canadiens went 1-for-4 on the power play, while the Flyers were 0-for-3 with the man advantage.
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lmao, the bruins put up a good fight but lost to a better team. Stop your whining, you sound like a laff fan.
Least effective trolling attempt ever.
LMAO, no kidding!
I do NOT believe Huet (although I like him) was the guy to take us all the way. Still, I think too much was put on Price too soon. He worked his butt off, and nobody here can deny that. Did he make some mistakes? Yes. Was putting the weight of the world on his shoulders the right move? Let's see what next year brings...
~Goose~
Habs fans, join my petition to DirecTV and NHL Center Ice to get the Habs on RDS. Email: habsonrds@cableone.net Thanks! GO HABS GO!
Dear Habs Fans:
Thanks for the great season, especially for the singing when the series was over, that was very touching. It made Plekanec and I cry together, like little girls.
I told Gainey not to trade Huet but he did anyway and now look what happened. I have decided to give more ice time to my 3rd and 4th lines next year.
Thanks Again,
Guy Carbonneau
I guarantee you that with Huet, the Habs would not have finished first in the conference and would've exited in the first round. Stop bringing up the Huet trade. Price is the real deal and what happened in the playoffs will only make him stronger, better and more eager to carry this team to the ultimate prize.
Hi Guy,
Congratulations on a great season and the upcoming Coch of the Year award.
Is it true you are bringing back Breezer at $2.1M and playing him as a wing and making him assistant player coach/captain ?
Is it also tru that Gainey's big signing this summer will be HUET at $3.5M and Ryder at $4.5 for some clutch scoring punch ?
Such a disappointing end to what might have been....thanks for the ride, it was great while it lasted. Looking forward *sigh* to next season. This playoff experience can only help for the future. Price is the real deal - no matter what all the negative posters say. Always proud to be a "habs" fan - always will be............GO HABS GO
Thanks to HIO team - great site! a la prochaine.....
I hope Price's development hasn't been substantially hurt by being thrown in over his head (or victimized by shoddy team play...either way that you see it.) But I think positive comparisons to Patrick can wait a bit if you please. Hopefully Price can rebound and become a good to great goaltender...too much was expected of him, I think.
As an aside...I wonder what the Swedish phenom (Brunnstrom) thought of that exhibition??????
It was a good run. Hats off to the Flyers. They played hard, got the breaks and the goaltending. They deserved it because they wanted it more. Gainey and Carbonneau have a good start here on something special. We need to continue with the youth movement and we need to get a little harder to play against. A la prochaine! Go Habs!
First of all, non-hab fans posting on this site is pathetic. Seriously there must be a blog with others who like you and your opinions. If you added something I suppose it could be a great discussion - but nothing was added.
As for the Habs. Lots or armchair GMs and that's fine. But just be levelheaded with your comments. Habs have some areas to grow in as all teams do - let's just hope they are addressed over the summer.
Was an exciting year but in the end the Habs do not play play-off hockey. The first period of game 5 was play-off hockey. GO TO THE NET - seriously if nothing else then crash the net.
Recall there was a play with a minute or so left (maybe less) when kovy picked up the puck behind our net and went the distance. Where was anyone crashing the net for a rebound - whomever was on the ice was watching and not playing. The summed up the past 12 games.
Someone had to lose. No regrets. It was a fun season. The better team won. Some of you need to learn to lose gracefully (ie: go to bed).
Looking forward to seeing what Gainey does next. Looking forward to what the next round of hockey brings. Can't wait to see Price in action through a full season.
Well, it's over. I couldn't even yell at my tv anymore. After Lats hit the crossbar it was just obvious that the Flyers would go on and score one more fluke goal to win it.
I feel bad for Price, he lost us the series, plain and simple. The save% of .85 (Carey) vs .92 (Biron) says it all.
Thanks Habs for a great season, even if the ending leaves a bad taste in your mouth.
Carey is only human and his experience this year will only make him mentally tougher next year. Like we all know, the pressure of playing for the Habs is like no other and overall Price handled it beautifully. Hats off to all the fans at the Bell Center last night who chanted Carey's name and gave the team a standing ovation at the end of the game. Carey will be back and so will the Habs.
Mill - I'd rather lose with Carey than any other goalie.
Agreed.
Agreed
And i dont think Price lost the series... No one should blame him, if it wasnt for him, we wouldve prolly never even made it to round 2.
I agree too.
Price made a huge stop on a breakaway.. was good on a 5 on 3.. he kept the habs in.. but the bad give away and all was lost.
In those audio clips Price sounds absolutely mentally drained and really disappointed. The last year and a half for him have been insane ! I can't imagine the pressure of what it would be like to play in MTL.. between double the media and intense fan pressure.
He didn't win it all this year but the kid has almost 2 decades to win :)
go habs !
Ditto. Said perfectly.
...........
"To you from failing hands we throw the torch. Be yours to hold it high."
I STILL BELIEVE. I WILL ALWAYS BELIEVE.
The only things I can fault the habs (other than not beefing up at the trade deadline) is the way they handled the goalies. PJ Stock was right on HNIC in saying why was Price getting all these starts late in the year. And last night, with 3 minutes left when Philly scored the go ahead goal, some of those players should not have been on the ice for the habs. I dont exactly remember who was on because of the beer but I remember saying wtf is Guy doing putting those guys out there and sure enough...
So you recommend firing Gainey? And if so, who do you suggest we replace him with?
Sulemann - You just went for the carrot , just what he wants, lol.
You're right Bryan. Good advice my friend. I'll leave it be.
Truth is the Habs were lucky to get past Boston. The Flyers were way too big and way too disciplined. The Habs didn't stand a chance... and it really didn't matter who was in net.
Personally, I'm a hockey fan and not a Habs fan. I can't wait to see the next round; hopefully against Pittsburgh. That will be a great series. Let Georges Laraque out against the Philly defence and see how hard they hit....
I predict 7 games in that series... either way.
The rest of you Hab fan wingnuts who will ignore the rest of the playoffs because "we" are out, can bite me.
A lot like the MAJORITY of leaves fans who haven't watched a minute of hockey since their beloved got knocked out of the playoff race. Sports radio here in Toronto really is quite pathetic now-a-days. Then again though, I'm not much of a sports radio guy anyway.
I bashed Koivu during the year and Im big enough to admit that I was wrong and he has won me over. Next year ought to be a good year, we need one big centreman and another big defenseman for it to be a great year though.
Defence issue solved: Josh Gorges... watch this kid be twice as important next year. His playoff stats are better than Komisarek.
Respectfully disagree. We need D-men who hit. His poke checking along the boards instead of eliminating time and speace by hitting the Philly winger led directly to their 3rd or fourth goal. Then he lost track of his assignment on the winner. I like Streit and he is a valuable player but he is also not big enough to play D in this league. A real conundrum about what to do with him as he is a free agent this summer. Fourth highest point getter on the team this year, but we need a defense that takes people out in our end.
i agree with you about Koivu. i was all for trading him, but his performance during the playoffs changed my mind. he was very impressive and is definitely our team's leader.
*Gasp* Trade Koivu?!?!?!