Flyers Take Game 4, Head to Montreal up 3-1

Philadelphia Flyers, originally uploaded by gajdam1.

They love to make it interesting... No, I don't mean the refs, who once again had some extremely questionable calls. I mean the Flyers, who blew another 2-0 lead last night, but managed to edge out the Canadiens by finishing strong.

Despite some line juggling with the return of Mike Knuble, RJ Umberger continued his hot streak, scoring a pair of goals, including an empty netter with 2 seconds left. The Umbergler now has 7 goals in the playoffs, just 6 short of his total for the season. Danny Briere scored the go-ahead goal and added an assist, and Scott Hartnell earned a marker by putting home a Vinny Prospal shot that bounced off the post.

The Flyers were again outshot, this time by a margin of 38-26, but with the way Marty Biron has been playing (and for that matter, the Habs goalies), the stat hasn't mattered much. Biron seems to always be in position, leaving no angles, and muting a lot with his glove. Even with the play of Briere and Umburger, Biron is clearly the MVP of the Flyers playoff run so far.

Both goalies played well in the first, with Jaroslav Halak announcing his presence by stoning Jeff Carter on a breakaway (note to Carter: they might be on to the backhand now). Umberger's first goal was the only one scored in the second period, and Hartnell opened the scoring in the third. The Canadiens scored two goals less than 40 seconds apart to tie it up, but Steve Begin took an awful penalty by leveling Sami Kapanen nowhere near the play. On the ensuing power  play, Briere camped out in his office, jammed home a shot from the side of the net, and the fans back in Montreal booed in their living rooms as he threw his signature fist pump.

The Flyers are on a roll heading back to Montreal, where they'll look to close out the series. Being up 3-1 didn't seal the deal in the Washington series, and it's not time to start looking ahead to an Eastern Conference Finals showdown with the Penguins. The Canadiens just haven't shown any of the game that earned them the #1 seed, and we have to wonder if they even have it left in them. We'll find out on Saturday.

Comments

[Pete D]

Come on boys lets close em out. This team sure does make it interesting...that 2 goal swing was agonizing. Montreal was going to score on those empty nets they've been getting COUNTLESS times sooner or later though. I've been reading away team coverage at the Montreal Gazette, they're pretty good. Here's an article that doesn't even call BS on the Begin penalty:

http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/sports/story.html?id=42fb3400-dc61-4f20-8460-c2ce05cd10f9&k=58365&p=1

[Sanganoski]

The meat has been seared to perfection, remove it now and enjoy the true flavor of a well cooked meal. Don't let it continue to remain any longer because it will only get tougher to digest and will leave a bad taste in the mouth if allowed to continue to stay where it is, don't be fooled by the color of the center of the meat, it is not too red for consumption, it is ready for serving, and we're hungry NOW!

[theKrisheim]

Mr. April

[adam]

I cannot stand Guy Carbonneau. I hope a Flyer accidentally fires a puck at him on the bench. The Canadiens have gotten so many calls and non-calls this series and then when one finally goes against them (even though it was a penalty), he whines like a little girl. And he had the gall to say Timonen deserved to be sucker punched because he celebrated the goal! Oh, I'm sorry, the Flyers blew game 1 and once they put game 2 away, they should not celebrate the victory. My bad. I've never seen anyone celebrate a goal before. I wonder how he would react to Ovechkin's celebrations.

[johndewar]

Boy, did Montreal look frustrated until they got a couple of bounces. Until that Koivu goal, I would have said they were done like dinner on Saturday, but now, I'm not so sure. I have no idea how they can go back to Carey Price after expressing no confidence to start their alleged franchise goalie in a road playoff game.

Hopefully, the Flyers learned something about themselves after the way Washington roared back on them and they end this thing this weekend.

As for our good friend Guy: If there was ever the elusive "coach fight" scenario, I'm pretty sure John Stevens could take Guy Carbonneau apart.

[Jim M.]

The officiating was still awful. I thought to board someone they had to actually hit the boards. Silly me. But the interference call on Lapierre in the 3rd was equally as bad. The Begin penalty on Kapanen was a good call. Dumb play on his part. Like Hatcher's the other night. The refs are just terrible in these playoffs. Shame because the games are great, otherwise.

[El Ricko]

I thought about Guy's comment (celebrate a goal = justifiable sucker punch) after Koivu's goal to tie the game at 2. The guy launched into a leap-and-squeal fest that would embarrass a ten-year-old girl with a Christmas pony.

Despite that, and despite all my griping about officials, it's great to see that the Flyers are showing no signs of effect from all the peripheral drama. A deep Flyers' playoff run is always fun to watch, but this team is one to really get behind -- contributions from everyone, the special teams not going into hibernation, a goalie who actually picks up his game in the playoffs (20 years since that's happened for Philly?). The blown two-goal leads and bad penalties and occasional defensive blunders mark the Flyers as a still young, still a bit rag-tag bucnh. But they're putting on a mighty fine how. Let's keep it going, boys!

[jd]

the funny thing is, the only way that the habs could start scoring is if a flyer helped.

thanks, hatcher.

[Bryan]

Too bad we got the shaft in game one, this could all be over. Oh well, beating the Canadians in their own house is sweet revenge.

[Mike L.]

Yea i say we just keep Hatch off the ice in the third and the Canadiens wont score anymore, its pretty much as simple as that.

[Johnny G]

he is actually stellar on the penalty kill and has been very good in the playoffs with the exception of the boarding and that deflection last night

[megaphone]

no hatcher has not been great in the playoffs. are you watching replays of the stars 99 cup run w/ phil sheridan? he has made some decent plays and has been fundamentally sound, but he is slower than my 95 yr old grandfather on skates. he cannot move to save his life. i like the grit he brings, i like his leadership, but fucking a man, its time to hang em up. he cant skate anymore. its sad to see, but its the truth

[jd]

actually, outside of that boarding check and putting the puck right onto the stick of an opposing player, leading to a breakaway and goal, hatcher is by far exceeding expectations.

[jd]

oops-plekanic didn't score on the breakaway.

[Dan]

Stormy = Undefeated 2-0 so far.

Just a thought.

[Walklett]

Ha, the "Umbergler"

[Mike L.]

To me Hatcher much resembles a gazelle at full gallop.

[Jim M.]

Hatcher's been horrendous in this series. In game one alone, he was partially responsible for the game-tying goal and directly responsible for the game-winner. In the third, he failed to clear the puck along the boards, and just fell on it instead, which set up the d-zone draw where Carter's stick broke and the Habs tied it. He also jumped on the rush too soon in OT and allowed his man three whacks on the game winning goal. Not to mention how many times he's been unable to get back for a puck. I wonder if he's hurt. He can't be that slow.

[for who for what]

awesome f'ing pic, is there any way to make this available in a bigger resolution *(to the editor)

[Matt P.]

the pic came from Flickr user gajdam1, who posted it to our group there.

here's a link to the largest version available there.

[Sanganoski]

However this series turns out, it did bring to the forefront that the game is starting to pass Hacher by and to draw parallels with shooting pool the front office has to start thinking about the next shot, maybe the next series or next season, before staying with Hacher either leaves them against the far rail or with a scratch. I don't think "Homer" will follow Clarkes' legacy by holding on to a grey beard player for old times sake. Hachers' type play was then, but the time is NOW!