Must-win for Montreal
By Judd Hall
The Stanley Cup Playoffs have been hotly contested in the first two rounds. The Eastern Conference Final, however, has left a lot to be desired. The Flyers and Canadiens both went the full seven games in their respective second round matchups. Yet Philadelphia comes into Game 3 of this series with a 2-0 lead.
If there is one good thing for Montreal, it’s that they come home for its must-win contest, with the puck dropping at 7:00 p.m. EDT on Versus. The Bell Centre has easily been the most raucous venue in this tournament. Yet the Habs are only 3-3 in six home tests during the playoffs.
Perhaps a bit of home cooking is just what the Canadiens need right now after two disastrous outings in Philly. The Flyers have taken them to task, outscoring them 9-0 in just two games. Now it isn’t just in the final score that the Broad Street Bullies are leading; they are dominating every facet of the game right now.
Philadelphia is using an extremely physical brand of defense that has seen them outhit the Habs 54-41. And even though Montreal has outshot the Flyers 58-48 in the series, most of the shots have been easy to snag for Michael Leighton. Plus, they are keeping guys like Mike Cammalleri away from making big shots. Montreal’s top scorer in the playoffs (12 goals, 6 assists) had been averaging almost seven shots on goal per game in the tournament. Cammalleri has just fired five SOG in the Eastern Conference Final.
Leighton is just the latest in a long line of netminders for the Flyers this year (9 have dressed during the 2009-10 campaign). And all he has done in five games of work is go 4-0 with an ungodly goals against average of 0.87 and a .969 save percentage. Now he gets to head into the Bell Centre, where he has logged a 1-0 mark with a .923 save percentage to go along with a 2.06 GAA.
The white-out of Montreal will no doubt be a welcome sight for Jaroslav Halak. The Canadiens’ backstop has been making the most out of his postseason spotlight in a contract year (He’s a restricted free agent for the 2010-11 season), stopping 92 percent of the shots fired his way with a GAA of 2.66.
As great as his numbers have been in the tournament, we have yet to really see the Halak that posted those great numbers. He did bounce back with a good outing on Tuesday night (20-23 SOG), but it was still the first time in the entire postseason that Halak had surrendered at least three goals on back-to-back games.
If anything, Halak and his teammates need to find a way to put the clamps down on Danny Briere. The former Sabre is seeing the net as if it were Aretha Franklin’s backside, logging a goal in four straight games and in five of his last six appearances.
Despite the ownership demonstrated by the Flyers, Montreal has been installed as a $1.30 home favorite (risk $130 to win $100) for Game 3 with a total of five coming in at most betting shops.
It’s been a while since the Habs were listed as home faves (April 4 vs. Toronto, to be exact). And they haven’t responded all that well in this spot, going 12-10 during the season, covering the puck line (-1 ½-goals) in seven of those fixtures.
Montreal has won both of its games as a home “chalk” against clubs from the Atlantic Division this year. Of course, those were both against the Islanders.
Philadelphia has won its last two games against Northeast Division foes as a road pup, which both came in the previous series with the Bruins.
What gamblers don’t know is that the Flyers have been road ‘dogs four times this season after a pitching a shutout in their last game. They are 1-3 in those games, much to the chagrin of Philly fans everywhere. The gamblers taking them to cover the puck line (+1 ½-goals) have seen them go 4-0. Now all those fun loving risk takers need to decide is if it is worth taking Philly to cover at minus-275 (risk $275 to win $100) or just hope for the outright win and a plus-110 return (risk $100 to win $110).
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