A new bully on Broad Street

Montreal cannot play tough as nails hockey. It's hilarious watching Gionta bounce off people, shoot a stern look, and then pee himself when someone comes back at him. Montreal will lose, probably in five. Neither Washington or Pittsburgh had the physical play every shift all game long that wins in the post season. Philly does. If Boston had won the series, the Habs would be playing for the cup in two weeks. Unfortunately for Montreal, Philly prevailed and will again.

The flys must have won the last game,cause all the little peons are now coming out of the woodwork...haaaaaaaheeeeeee

lucky for us it's a best of 7 . I can't believe the way people are getting down on the habs already . i mean ,yeah they loss bad , but it def was not their worse game so far . infact they outshot philly. i say they pepper leighton next game , i mean the guy isn't a good goalie at all . he's a piece of garbage , let's take advantage of it ....

Ryan, I'd say it was definitely the Habs' worst loss of the season, since they were dominated in all aspects of the game, losing 6-0. They outshot the Flyers, but they were mostly low percentage shots. They didn't really get any good, quality chances on Leighton because the Flyers' Defense was suffocating them. The Flyers seem to be playing with the idea that if you shut down Cammelari, you stop Montreal's offense. Because of this, MTL is going to need more help from their supporting cast, because the Flyers' defense is going to targeting Gionta and Cammelari the whole time.

The Flyers present a unique challenge to the Habs, because although they don't have a superstar like Crosby, Malkin, or Ovechkin, they're more balanced than the Penguins offensively, their star players (Briere, Richards, Gagne, etc.) are coming up big, and the Flyers have two shutdown defensive lines (Pronger-Carle and Timonen-Coburn). So, really, it doesn't really matter how bad Leighton is (although his numbers show the opposite). If the Flyers' defense keeps playing the way it did in game 1, than Leighton won't need to steal a game or make too many saves that he shouldn't.

I heard that carter and lappy might be back by the weekend montreal doesnt stand a chance if we get our best scorer, and our heart and soul back into the line up.

we will see what happens , but i disagree with the statement saying it was their worse game . Ive watched every game from start too finish . i mean shit , halak let in 4 goals on 13 shots . As for having carter and and lappy back , it will help yes , but to say montreal does't have a chance is a bold statement. especially after everyone said the same thing against washington and pittsburgh and don't forget makov could be back soon. As for the comment about philly having more depth then pittsburgh or washington is also a bold one . what gives them more depth exacly ? washington was by far the most superior team in every category this season and the penguins are the defending cup champs and have been to the finals 2 years in a row . what has philly done ? yes philly has better defence , i will say that , but they have worse goaltending then pit or wash and their forwards don't even come close . All i know is it's best of 7 , not of 1 and all i can do is hope , cheer and watch everygame till the end .

P.S: what the hell is a flyer fan doing in hab forum????

Ryan, I never said that the Habs don't have a chance. I just said that they're going up against a superior defense than Pitt and WSH and that the Flyers' offense is more balanced, because you can't just target one or two players like you can with Pitt and WSH. Why do the Flyers have more depth than Pitt and Washington? I'll start with Pitt: The Pens are carried by Crosby and Malkin. After those two players, there is a significant dropoff in talent. Tyler Kennedy, Ruslan Fedotenko, Matt Cooke, and Bill Guerin are third line wingers at best. Pitt has so much money invested into their centers (Crosby, Malkin, and Staal), in Fleury, and Gonchar, that they've not been able to put out big money to get quality or elite wingers to play with Sid and Geno. Because of this, the Habs were able to defend Pitt with the mindset that if you stop Crosby and Malkin, you stop Pittsburgh. Those two generate 80% of the Penguins offense, so it was a good strategy. With Washington, their big guns are Backstrom, Semin, and Ovechkin. They also have solid top-6 forwards in Knuble and Laich, and an elite offensive defenseman in Green. The only problem is that Green and Semin failed once again to show up in the playoffs and Ovechkin didn't play at his usual superman level.

With the Flyers, they don't have the star power of WSH (Semin, Ovechkin, and Backstrom) or Pittsburgh (Crosby and Malkin) and they don't have as much offensive balance as WSH (because of Lupul and Knuble leaving last offseason), but all of their players are showing up and contributing. Richards and Briere are averaging well over a point per game (17 pts each), Claude Giroux is continuing is ascent to stardom with a terrific postseason (13 points) and Simon Gagne, James van Riemsdyk and Scott Hartnell have been heating up since game 5 of the Eastern semis. Even Ville Leino has had a superb posteason. The Flyers are playing (as of now) as a team that cannot just have one or two of its players targeted because other players are there to pick up the slack if certain players get shutdown (like Richards did).

Like I said, though. I'm not counting Montreal out or anything. They've got a good team and have had a great postseason, beating two oustanding teams in Pitt and Washington. I'm just saying that the Flyers' offensive balance and superior defense (compared to Pitt and Washington), along with their aggressive forecheck and net-crashing habits have given the Habs a different challenge. I fully expect the Habs to make adjustments, though, and come out fired up for the second game. MTL will play desperate hockey and be out to get the split.

Good luck to Habs fans. I know this is going to be a great series.

Guys there is only one issue here and it has nothing to do with the skill levels on Philly. The canadiens played the first game looking over their shoulders for the physical game of the Flyers. I hate to say it but they looked intimidated and a little scared. Montreal is not able to match up physically and unless they are willing to suck it up, hit and be hit...I don't think their chances are good against the Flyers. Halak had 4 in 13 shots because he had bodies in front of him, they were crashing him...old fashioned Flyers hockey. I did not see one time the Canadiens crash the Philly net or stand there to block the goaltender because they know that Pronger will nail them if they stand there. Lapierre, Darch, Moen, O'Burne have to be hitting every Flyer and target guys like Gagne and Briere. I think they should also put Moen with Cammillerri because they are after Cammillerri. I also heard that Ryan Oburn will not be playing tonight!!. Why would you not play a healthy 6'5" defenseman ina physical series like this? Instead, Bergeron who is a minus 12 will be playing. WTF is wrong with the coach????

where is the drunk ? Is he in the dryout center ?

Dcc wrote:

where is the drunk ? Is he in the dryout center ?

Sparto where are you?

Knuckles Nilan wrote:

<quoted text> Sparto where are you?

Be careful of what you wish for!

Jack Tupp wrote:

<quoted text>
Be careful of what you wish for!

Have you seen the drunk ? Call without a trace !

Dcc wrote:

<quoted text>Have you seen the drunk ? Call without a trace !

Any chance of you coming up with some new material ??? Same old crap day after day.....give it a rest !!!!!!!!!!

I beleive he is still drunk from the Pittsburgh series.
Good job on explaining to those U.S fans on how shitty of a country they truly live in.

Where is that drunk ??