In the beginning of the first period, this was looking like another typical Montreal Canadiens playoff game. Jaroslav Halak was under siege worse than Steven Segal at certain points, yet the Philadelphia Flyers only managed one powerplay goal from Braydon Coburn. The big difference is that the Canadiens are showing a little more punch, even if they haven’t pierced Flyers goalie Michael Leighton just yet. Leighton had 13 saves in one period for Philly while Halak seems like he’s playing more like Marc-Andre Fleury or Jose Theodore with only 5 of 6 saves. Sure, Montreal hasn’t had that many great scoring chances, but it’s rare enough for the Habs to have a 2-1 (or better) shoots for versus against ratio.
Despite the shot disparity, Philadelphia is playing confident, aggressive hockey right now. These two teams are on remarkable hot streaks and it looks like the Canadiens might really struggle with the Flyers.
So far, this series is looking quite intriguing. More updates to come.
