All the while in Montreal, the Flyers were feeling out their opponent and left Canada with the thought that they finally had a good understanding of their opponent. The Flyer with the best idea of how the Habs play is clearly goaltender Marty Biron. Clearly the best player of the entire playoffs thus far, Marty Biron, and Biron only was the reason the Flyers won game 3 and gained a 2-1 series lead.

Although the first stanza didn’t feature a goal, there was tons of action. It became apparent early that Marty Biron was going to carry this Flyers team. He made a ridiculous poke check save on head Hab Saku Koivu as he picked up a pass off the boards coming out of his own end and went in on a breakaway. The Flyers had 10 minutes worth of penalties in the first and their special teams were tested early and often. The biggest showing was the Flyers shutting the Canadiens down on a full 2-minute 5-on-3 advantage in the first period.

The second period was all Philadelphia. Scottie Upshall started the scoring campaign with a neat wrister over the right pad of Carey Price at 7:04. Price didn’t look comfortable at all. At one point in the second he made an awkward blocker save that he nearly poked into his own net. The Flyers would continue to be the ones finding the twine, as Mike Richards got a short handed tally at 15:12. The orange and black rarely had control of the puck, but when they did they made it count. R.J. Umberger scored the third goal of the period at 18:19, marking a three-game scoring streak. Up 3-0, a confident, but not dominant Flyers team went into the locker room with positive thoughts.

When they emerged from the dressing room they found a different goalie awaiting them. Carey Price who let in 3 goals on only 12 shots was pulled in lieu of Jaroslav Halak. The Flyers continued to lose the battle of puck posession despite a 3-spot on the scoreboard and it didn’t get any easier as the period progressed. At 5:17 Derian Hatcher received a 5-minute major for boarding and a game misconduct. The play was definitely a penalty, but the call a bit harsh. A major and game misconduct are usually reserved for severe injuries or blatant negligence for an opponent while trying to drive him into the first row of seats.

Nevertheless, the Habs had a 5-minute man advantage and they put it to good use. They were already controlling the puck with ease throughout the game, but their power play finally proved its worth at 7:29 of the third. From the initial angle the puck appeared to be under a seated Marty Biron, but upon further review it was trapped against the post. A Flyer tried to fish the puck off the goal line, but Tomas Plekanec popped the puck in, knocking the goal off in the process. The goal stood as it became clear the puck went in before the net came off its moorings. That wasn’t the end of the Hab’s power play however. At 8:41 Braydon Coburn wasn’t able to control a pesky Saku Koivu who had to use all of his short reach to get the puck around the outstretched leg of Biron and behind the goal line.

Although the Flyers made everyone sweat it out, they did prevail in the end. They had a power play of their own in the last 5 minutes of the game to re-gain possession and keep the pressure off their stellar goalkeeper. The win, although ugly, tells us that the Flyers are definitely capable of outlasting the first seeded Montreal Canadiens. They were tested early and often, but the playoffs are all about goaltending, and right now Marty Biron is the hottest goalie in the league.

Game 4 will be on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. and joining the Flyers might be winger Mike Knuble. Knuble has been out ever since game 5 of the Washington series when he went down awkwardly. Reports say that Knuble could rejoin the team on Wednesday. That would be a huge physical boost for the orange and black.

Dave’s 3 Stars of the Game

1. Marty Biron - 32 saves
2. Mike Richards - 1 goal, +2
3. Scottie Upshall - 1 goal, +2