Flying high in Philly
PHILADELPHIA — Michael Leighton started the postseason watching games from the press box. He could end it by rewriting the Philadelphia Flyers' postseason history.
Leighton became the first Flyers goalie in 35 years to record consecutive playoff shutouts, stopping 30 shots and leading them to a 3-0 win over the Montreal Canadiens Tuesday night. Philadelphia took a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference finals and moved two wins away from its first Stanley Cup finals appearance since 1997.
"It's obviously an honor," Leighton said. "But a shutout to me, it means a little bit, but the win means a lot more to me. We could have won 3-1 and I would have been just as happy."
Leighton's season was considered over once he went down with an ankle injury in mid-March. He wasn't on the active postseason roster to open the series and watched in street clothes high atop the Wachovia Center in the press box.
Look at the journeyman now.
He 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 also scored for the Flyers.
"We all feel like we haven't played our best games yet," Briere said. "We still have more in the tank."
The Flyers have won six straight postseason games and look to keep it going in Game 3 Thursday at Montreal.
The Flyers have scored 13 straight goals in the postseason since trailing 3-0 in Game 7 against Boston in the East semifinals. Leighton has been impeccable since taking over for an injured Boucher in Game 5 of the semis.
The Flyers haven't won the Stanley Cup since the second of their consecutive championships in 1975.
Leighton's emergence was as timely as Gagne's return. He rushed back to the lineup in the semifinals after a broken toe and scored his sixth goal in six games since then.
His goal late in the second period gave the Flyers a 2-0 lead — and a badly needed cushion. The Canadiens outshot the Flyers 16-6 in the first period and the Flyers didn't reach double digits in shots until mid-second.
Montreal goalie Jaroslav Halak played the entire game after getting yanked in Philadelphia's 6-0 Game 1 win.
"We had good chances, we played a much better game," Montreal coach Jacques Martin said.
Halak was shaken early when Briere scored his ninth goal of the postseason 4:16 into the game. He took a beautiful backhand feed from Claude Giroux and fired from the slot to beat Halak for a 1-0 lead.
The Canadiens hope a return home can be their spark.
"You never want to start out that way," Montreal forward Brian Gionta said. "We are going home and hopefully we can build on that momentum."
Blackhawks 4, Sharks 2
At San Jose, Calif., Dustin Byfuglien and Jonathan Toews scored on deflections 90 seconds apart in the second period and the Chicago Blackhawks rolled to their record-tying seventh straight road win in the playoffs, 4-2 over the San Jose Sharks in Game 2 of the Western Conference final Tuesday night.
Andrew Ladd and Troy Brouwer also scored and Antti Niemi made 25 saves for the Blackhawks, who have a 2-0 series lead. This is the closest Chicago has been to making the Stanley Cup final since getting there in 1992.
