Habs' 1st goal: scoring a goal
MONTREAL — The NHL's goalie of the moment, and maybe the player most responsible for the Philadelphia Flyers' unexpected run toward a Stanley Cup, arrived in Montreal with one simple wish for his 29th birthday.
"Just some rest," Michael Leighton said Wednesday with a big laugh.
OK, but not much.
As busy as Leighton has been in registering consecutive shutouts by stopping all 58 shots Montreal has fired at him in the first two games of the Eastern Conference final, the Canadiens are vowing to make it even tougher on him.
A day after a 3-0 loss at Philadelphia, Canadiens coach Jacques Martin spent much of a 45-minute meeting attempting to erase 120 minutes of futility by stressing to his players the importance of getting more traffic in front of Leighton as the best-of-seven series shifts to Montreal for Game 3 on Thursday.
Defenseman Josh Gorges is buying in because at this point, scoring a goal — just one — has become the Canadiens' primary objective, no matter how it comes.
"Even if it's one of those ugly ones, off someone's behind or deflecting in off of one of their guys, we'll take it," Gorges said. "First of all, I think that would give us a boost, a little confidence to know that he's not invincible."
The Canadiens have been resilient this postseason. Seeded eighth, they've already rallied from series deficits to knock off both top-seeded Washington and defending champion Pittsburgh in seven games each.
The seventh-seeded Flyers pulled off maybe the greatest comeback in NHL history just to get here, coming from three games down against Boston and three goals down in Game 7 to beat the Bruins. And they're doing it with a journeyman goalie.
Claimed by the Flyers off of waivers in December, Leighton has grabbed the spotlight since taking over the starting job after Brian Boucher hurt his knee in Game 5 against Boston.
Leighton has now won four straight, and has been invincible this series.
The Flyers are 16-0 in their history when leading a series 2-0, and are now two wins from their first trip to the Stanley Cup final since 1997. They've also won six straight and are 5-1 on the road.
The trouble for Montreal is its offense has been far too one-dimensional, even before it hit the Leighton Wall. Of the 39 goals Montreal has scored this postseason, 19 have come from two players: Mike Cammalleri has 12 and Brian Gionta seven.
"We've earned the right to be here. We know it's not going to be easy," Martin said, before noting how the Canadiens rallied from a 3-1 series deficit against Washington. "A lot of people here, after Game 4 against Washington, weren't too optimistic. And this group proved them wrong."
