Flyers top Montreal in Game 2

truebluefan · May 19, 2010

Michael Leighton is for real—and he has all those zeros to prove it.

Leighton stopped 30 shots and recorded his second straight shutout, and the Philadelphia Flyers beat the Montreal Canadiens 3-0 on Tuesday night to take a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference finals.

“We’re in a great situation,” Leighton said. “I’m not trying to think so much.”

His season was considered over once he went down with an ankle injury in mid-March. Now, Leighton has the Flyers two wins away from their first Stanley Cup finals appearance since 1997.

Leighton is the first Flyers goalie to record consecutive playoff shutouts since Bernie Parent in 1975. His shutout streak of 165:50 is the second-longest in team history behind Brian Boucher’s 184:45 in its run to the East finals in 2000.

Danny Briere and Simon Gagne scored power-play goals, and Ville Leino(notes) also scored for the Flyers.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/recap;_ylt=AvXoEfltE_VRIRmlqosUenZ7vLYF?gid=2010051815

DP · May 19, 2010

This was a damn good game. I watched the last period after playing some video games. The Habs are crashing, and crashing hard. BasX must be proud on how well his Flyers are playing. I got a few articles I will post here as well.

DP · May 19, 2010

NHL.com Article

PHILADELPHIA -- The Montreal Canadiens were on the receiving end of yet another special delivery by the Philadelphia Flyers.

On a night when the Flyers just didn't seem to generate much offense 5-on-5 and their best player was goalie Michael Leighton, they turned to their specialty teams to steal Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals.

Philadelphia went 2-for-4 with the man advantage while denying all four Montreal power plays en route to a 3-0 victory at the Wachovia Center. The Flyers, who have held Montreal scoreless on eight power-play attempts in the series, now lead 2-0 as the series moves to Montreal for Game 3 Thursday night.

"We just want to keep it simple and we're shooting the puck a lot more," Flyers forward Claude Giroux said. "Any time you shoot the puck more, you're going to have a better chance at scoring and the puck is finding the holes right now."

The Flyers scored 2 power-play goals on six shots against the Canadiens Tuesday after getting two on nine shots en route to a 6-0 win two nights earlier.

After struggling early in the previous round against Boston, the Flyers' power play is hitting its stride.

"I felt early in our series with Boston (in the conference semifinals), we were struggling getting into the zone on the power play but we've been getting better and better," said center Danny Briere, who opened the scoring 4:16 into the game with the first power-play goal. "It's not like we were coming into an easier series, either. Montreal has had a good penalty kill all year and one of best power plays. So, after two games, to win the special-teams battle goes a long way and puts us in a good spot.

"I think even in our first game, we scored a few goals right when the penalty expired and Ville (Leino's) goal (on Tuesday) came right when their player was stepping on the ice. To win the special teams battle, especially when you're not at your best, it feels good to be up 2-0 and taking care of home ice."

The contest took on an eerily familiar look to Game 1 when the Canadiens earned an early power play, only to have it negated by a Scott Gomez penalty less than a minute later. On the ensuing advantage, the Flyers grabbed the lead on Briere's goal -- and once again, it was all goalie Michael Leighton needed.

Briere got his fourth goal in four games when he snapped a shot from the right of the slot that beat Canadiens goalie Jaroslav Halak over his glove into the top right corner. Simon Gagne scored on his team's second power play, swatting in a rebound at 15:49 of the second.

That goal seemed to deflate the Canadiens, who outshot the Flyers 16-6 in the opening period and had allowed just 10 shots before Gagne's goal.

The Flyers' penalty kill denied the Canadiens' power-play unit three times in the first when Leighton was the team's best penalty-killer. Leighton, who finished the game with 30 saves, stopped eight shots with his team a man short in the opening period, including six straight in a span of 1:06 after Leino went off for holding at 7:11.

The Flyers entered the contest first among the four remaining teams in the Stanley Cup Playoffs with a 22.7 percent power-play efficiency. The Flyers and the Canadiens both finished among the top three in the League on the power play during the regular season. Montreal was second at 21.8 percent, just ahead of the Flyers at 21.4 percent.

But in this series, the special-teams battle has been all Flyers.

"We've got a lot of skill (on the power play)," defenseman Kimmo Timonen said. "We've got two great units and we can really move the puck. But it's key for any power play to get the puck to the front, to get guys to the front, to get some rebounds and we can do a great job with that."

Follow Mike Morreale on Twitter at: @mike_morreale
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Clutch special teams is a big key to winning the game, and the Flyers pulled this off perfectly.

NHL.com Article

PHILADELPHIA -- Flyers defenseman Kimmo Timonen wanted it to be known that there was one good player on the ice Tuesday night in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Montreal Canadiens.

That player was goalie Michael Leighton, who became the first goalie to post consecutive shutouts in one playoff year since Detroit's Chris Osgood did it against the Pittsburgh Penguins in Games 1 and 2 of the 2008 Stanley Cup Final.

"Today we had one good player out there, and we all know it was Mike," Timonen said after Philadelphia's 3-0 victory gave the Flyers a 2-0 lead in the series. "The rest of us were average."

Leighton is still unbeaten in the playoffs at 4-0 and owns a 0.87 goals-against average and .969 save percentage to go along with his back-to-back shutouts. Don't forget, he also combined on a shutout with Brian Boucher in Game 5 of their second-round series.

It's pretty amazing to think the first time Leighton suited up following his recovery from a high ankle sprain was as a backup to Brian Boucher in Game 5 against the Boston Bruins in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. He was immediately thrust into the spotlight when Boucher went down with a knee injury in the early stages of the second period and has been absolutely flawless ever since.

He's gone a remarkable 165:50 or eight-plus periods of hockey without allowing a goal, dating back to 14:10 of the first period of Game 7 at TD Garden, when Boston's Milan Lucic scored for a 3-0 lead.

"To be honest, I wasn't even sure if he was ready to go until the day before (Game 5 against Boston)," forward Blair Betts said. "It's kind of ironic that the only game they finally decide to dress him, Brian goes down with the knee injury and, since then, he's been phenomenal for us.

"He's loose and relaxed and you could almost feel a confidence and strong mentality about him (before every game)," Betts continued. "He doesn't seem to nervous. Coming in against Boston in Game 5 … that's got to be the toughest position for any player to enter. He came into an elimination game in the playoffs, and after he hadn't played in two months, comes out and shuts the door."

Leighton, who made 28 saves in Game 1 and turned aside 30 more in Game 2 to stymie the Canadiens, also became the first Flyer with consecutive shutouts in one playoff year since Bernie Parent did it against the Toronto Maple Leafs on April 15 and 17, 1975, during the quarterfinals.

It's a mark he never could have imagined.

"It's obviously an honor, but a shutout to me, it means a little bit," Leighton said. "The win means a lot more to me. You know, we could have won 3-1 and I would have been just as happy. We're just looking at the next game now and rolling forward."

Leighton has stopped all 70 shots he's faced after allowing the goal to Lucic four days ago. Since that goal, the Flyers have outscored the opposition 13-0 -- including 9-0 in the two wins against the Canadiens.

"When (your goalie) throws two games together like that, it catches everybody," coach Peter Laviolette said. "You need good performances from your entire team in order to keep moving on in the playoffs. To me, he looked as good as I've seen him. He was very calm in there, very relaxed, and in complete control of that net and everything that went on around it. He was really strong."

In the end, even the Montreal players and coach Jacques Martin had no other choice than to credit Leighton.

"He's stopped everything so far," said Habs forward Mike Cammalleri, who scored 12 times in the first two rounds. "He's been great. I don't know whether it's a surprise or not. I'm kind of the belief you could always do a little more to put the puck in the net. But whenever a goalie has back-to-back shutouts, he's doing something right."

Martin, whose team had the territorial advantage in the opening two periods and outshot the Flyers 30-23 in Game 2, felt Leighton was the difference.

"I shouldn't say I'm surprised," Martin said. "I think he's a good goalie. I think he had a good season for their team, so I'm surprised that we haven't scored. I think that we have to do a better job in certain areas. But I thought that we competed hard tonight, and it was a good game. The difference was the special teams."

Leighton, as you might expect, was also the Flyers' best penalty-killer. He turned aside all nine shots the Canadiens threw at him during their four power-plays in the game.

"Sometimes it's good to not face shots, but sometimes it's good to get into it a little bit," Leighton said. "So it kind of just depends on the mood you're in and how you're feeling.

"They were on us right off the bat, and I felt good," he continued. "We did a good job clearing on our early rebounds, and our penalty kill was good. Some nights you almost want to not get tested early and just get perimeter shots to see the puck, but that's kind of just how you feel and how the day's going."

Leighton certainly must have been feeling pretty good on Tuesday -- making it one day he'll never forget.

Follow Mike Morreale on Twitter at: @mike_morreale
Click to expand...

What else can I say about Leighton? He is one of Phillys potential greats. He played hard, got the Flyers into this series and is helping them win it. Brochuer must be feeling better about his injury. Even though thats hard to think of.

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Flyers top Montreal in Game 2

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DP He shoots, he scores!

DP He shoots, he scores!

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Flyers top Montreal in Game 2

truebluefan Administrator Staff Member Administrator

DP He shoots, he scores!

DP He shoots, he scores!

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