In their history, the Flyers have been in the Conference Finals (or Stanley Cup Semifinals) 16 times. Of those 16 trips to this round, they’ve had a 2-0 series lead just three times. Those three times? 1974, 1975 and 2010. We don’t need to connect those dots for you.
The Flyers continued their magical, historic postseason run tonight with a 3-0 shutout of the Montreal Canadiens. Michael Leighton was an integral part of that shutout, of course, stoning the Habs from every angle. He did it from up close, he did it from far away, he did it in the crease and from the slot.
Leighton frustated the Habs all night long like the Flyers’ crease crashing frustrated whiny Montreal-based hockey writers in Game 1. Ironically, the Canadiens lack of ability to get bodies in Leighton’s way seems to be what’s doing the Habs in right now, and as a result, the name of the current Flyers goalie — who was on waivers a few months ago and in the press box last week — is currently being used in the same sentence as Bernie Parent.
Leighton’s back to back shut outs to open this Eastern Conference Final are the first for the franchise since Parent did the same in 1975. Again, these parallels are getting fun. But lets dump a bucket of cold water on this for a second, because the Flyers didn’t play a good game tonight.
Listening to Peter Laviolette’s post game press conference, you’d think the Flyers were down in this series. His praise of Leighton is quickly tempered by frustration about the way the team in front of the goaltender looks. They’ve obviously playing good hockey or they wouldn’t be up in the series, but it’s true that they let Montreal dictate far too much of Game 2.
It needs to change as the Flyers move forward, and especially as they enter the fire pit — literally — that is the City of Montreal. For now, though, we celebrate a 2-0 series lead and the history that’s being made by these Flyers. Michael Leighton has a 165 minute, 50 second shutout streak and the Flyers are two wins away from an Eastern Conference title and a trip to the Cup Final. No need to wake up just yet.
After the jump, questions with answers and the comment of the night.
Questions to Answer
- Can the Flyers continue to make Jack Todd cry by getting close and personal with Jaroslav Halak? Yes. While they didn’t spend a lot of time in the Montreal end, they had a strong net presence while they were down there. Halak looked human and rattled as a result.
- Will the Flyers play better in the first period? Not really. The first period was almost deja vu to Sunday.
- Can Chris Pronger and the rest of the Flyers continue to shut down Mike Cammalleri? Just four shots, nothing of quality.
- How much intensity does Montreal show after Sunday’s embarrassment? Quite a bit. They have to be frustrated. They probably deserved to win the game.
- The record for most consecutive goals in the playoffs is 12 (correct me if I’m wrong). The Flyers are at 10. Can they break the record? The record isn’t 12 — we were corrected. But 12 is a franchise record, and yes, it was broken.
- Six straight wins? You know it.
Comment of the Night
OLEEEE OLE OLE OLE OLEEEEEE OLEEEEEEE
OLEEEE OLE OLE OLE OLEEEEEE OLEEEEEEE
OLEEEE OLE OLE OLE OLEEEEEE OLEEEEEEE
OLEEEE OLE OLE OLE OLEEEEEE OLEEEEEEE
