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Montreal vs Philadelphia NHL

“With each series, it obviously gets harder and harder, but I don’t think you can look past that next game and that next win,” Philadelphia defenseman Chris Pronger said. “You’ve got to focus on closing out a team and being closers. We’ve got a team now down 3-1. We’ve got to get that fourth win.

“We’ve got to understand what it’s going to take, because they’re obviously a team that’s had their backs against the wall throughout the course of this playoff, through Washington and Pittsburgh, and they’ve been able to rally and come back. We obviously want to stymie that and make sure we’re putting our foot on the throat.”

The Flyers can advance to the finals for the first time since 1997 with a victory in Game 5 on Monday night at home in front of their raucous, orange-clad fans.

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NHL Preview: Montreal Vs Philadelphia
“We had our celebrations in the locker room,” goalie Michael Leighton(notes) said Saturday of Friday’s Game 7 win. “On the plane it was more just thinking about what we just did. It was kind of quiet, but you knew everybody was happy. I think everyone was just sitting back in their seat reading a book or listening to music or looking up at the ceiling on the plane thinking, ‘What did we just do?’ That was amazing.”

The upstart Montreal Canadiens are all that stand between the Flyers and their first trip to the Stanley Cup finals since 1997. Philadelphia had only one day to shake off the aftereffects of Boston Game 7 before facing the Canadiens Sunday night.

“It’s probably the hottest team right now and probably the most dangerous team left in the playoffs,” Montreal forward Scott Gomez(notes) said Saturday before the Canadiens flew to Philadelphia. “You kind of wish they got a little break there because they’re rolling right now.”

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NHL: Chicago Vs San Jose

The buzz has only gotten bigger this week, with a berth in the Stanley Cup final on the line. The best-of-seven series opens Sunday in San Jose, all because the Sharks beat the Blackhawks by one point for the top spot in the conference on the final weekend of the regular season.

The Sharks got here by beating Colorado in six games in the first round and two-time defending Western Conference champion Detroit in the second. The Blackhawks are in the conference final for the second straight year after beating both Nashville and Vancouver in six games.

This is just the sixth time since the current playoff format began in 1994 that the top two seeds have made it to the conference final.

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The Bruins are in good shape in their playoff series against the Flyers. However, they are not in good health.

It has been 18 years since the Bruins advanced to the third round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, but they can end that dubious streak tonight when they meet teetering Philadelphia in Game 4 at the Wachovia Center.

The Bruins are 16-0 all-time when leading a best-of-seven series, 3-0. Twelve of those series have ended in sweeps with only one going six games. The Flyers are 0-6 all-time when dropping the first three games of a series.

But coach Claude Julien, citing Montreal overcoming a 3-1 deficit against Washington and his team needing two games to close out Buffalo in the first round, steadfastly believes the hardest part of the job is the final phase.

“You’re starting to see that more and more now in this league because there is some parity,” Julien said. “There’s never full dominance. For us, it’s just understanding that that last game is always the toughest to win.”

Win or lose, the Bruins are headed back to Boston afterward.

A loss means they’ll play Game 5 Monday at TD Garden. A win means the opportunity to rest and regroup before facing the Pittsburgh-Montreal survivor in the Eastern Conference finals.

The Bruins, 11-2-1 since April 3 with a 7-2 mark in the playoffs, entered their series with the Flyers relatively healthy. They won’t exit it the same way.

First-line left wing Marco Sturm saw his season end abruptly when he tore the ACL and MCL in his right knee in the first minute of Game 1 on Saturday.

More bad news was delivered Wednesday when versatile center David Krejci dislocated his right wrist on a big-time hit from Flyers captain Mike Richards early in Game 3. He, too, is done for the year after undergoing surgery following the game.

“It’s part of the game and one you can’t dwell on because it takes away your focus on what you need to do to succeed,” Julien said, sounding very Belichickian. “So, as a coach, you just look at what you’ve got and make the best of what you’ve got.”

Krejci had eight points in nine postseason games, tied with defenseman Dennis Wideman for third on the team in scoring. Linemate Miroslav Satan and first-line center Patrice Bergeron have 10 and nine points, respectively.

A yet-to-be-named player will replace Krejci, whose ice time and duties will certainly be divvied up among many.

In addition to centering the second line, Krejci was a mainstay on the power-play and penalty-killing units. Blake Wheeler and Milan Lucic figure to replace him on the former, while the trio of Mark Recchi, Bergeron and Wheeler is in line to see an increased workload on the latter.

This being the playoffs, Julien opted to hold off on revealing Krejci’s replacement until today. The leading candidates are veteran center Trent Whitfield, who has playoff experience from his days with the Capitals, and young wing Brad Marchand.

Both players have been practicing with the team as members of the Black Aces, the traditional moniker for the playoff reserves.

McQuaid doubtful tonight
Krejci wasn’t the only Bruin injured in Game 3. Rookie defenseman Adam McQuaid departed after just two shifts with what Julien yesterday termed a — yup — lower-body injury.

McQuaid was skating on the third defensive pairing, averaging about 11 minutes of ice time in the first eight playoff games. He doesn’t have a point and is minus-4.

Julien said McQuaid was “very doubtful” for tonight and would be “day-to-day” after that. He confirmed the Bruins would go with six defensemen tonight.

Whether that fill-in person is Mark Stuart remains to be seen. The veteran has been skating for close to a week now after being out since early April due to an infected left pinkie that required surgery and is still undergoing treatment.

Stuart has yet to be medically cleared. Once that happens, it’ll be up to the coaching staff to decide when to play him.

According to Julien, the Bruins won’t accelerate Stuart’s return because McQuaid is out. On the other hand, he said conditioning isn’t an issue.

Bruins vs. Flyers

7 Tonight

Wachovia Center

Versus

Bruins lead series, 3-0

About the only consolation for the injury pile-up is the 3-0 lead Boston holds going into Friday. Sweep the Flyers, and that’s more time for the Bruins to rest and work on possible new line combinations for the Eastern Conference finals.

“Teams go through those situations. Sometimes it pays off because you’ve played through adversity and through the grind, and it makes you a stronger team,” Bruins coach Claude Julien said Thursday.

Julien just hopes they can escape Philadelphia without additional injury. The Bruins are one win away from advancing to the Eastern Conference finals for the first time since 1992.

“We just have to keep finding ways, and we have to continue to do that. We have to stay focused,” Bruins center Marc Savard(notes) said.

Savard missed 24 games during the regular season with a concussion. He wasn’t even around when the Bruins made their late-season run toward the postseason.

No one who watched the Bruins only months ago could have imagined they’d be five wins away from playing for the Stanley Cup. Boston lost 10 straight games in one stretch. The Bruins even lost 10 in a row at home.

“It was finding our identity as a team. I thought we struggled with that this year,” Julien said. “We didn’t have that identity that we had been looking for. At the end of the month, we somehow found a way to find our identity and it seems like it’s getting stronger. You just hope it keeps going that way.”

Julien has found the right mix down the stretch and into the postseason. He’ll have to keep mixing when he decides if Trent Whitfield(notes) or Brad Marchand(notes) will get the call to sub for Krejci in Game 4.

Krejci collided with Flyers captain Mike Richards(notes) just before Boston scored the go-ahead goal on Wednesday. Krejci had surgery to repair the wrist at a Baltimore hospital following the game.

He has four goals and four assists in nine postseason games, after scoring 17 goals and 35 assists in 79 regular season games.

That’s a double whammy after Sturm tore the anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments in his right knee in Game 1.

“It’s never easy to lose two guys like that. It’s part of the game,” Julien said. “It’s one that you can’t dwell on because it takes away your focus on what you have to do to succeed.”

The expanding injury report hasn’t stopped Boston from handling the Flyers. The Bruins have trailed only once in the first three games and they promptly wiped out that lead with goals 94 seconds apart.

Trying to spark the team, forward Simon Gagne(notes) returned to practice Thursday a little more than two weeks after he broke a toe on his right foot and is questionable for Friday’s Game 4 against Boston.

Gagne was a surprise participant when the Flyers hit the ice. He wore a protective soft shoe this week and was originally hopeful he could start skating this weekend.

Now, he could play Game 4.

Gagne, who had 17 goals and 40 points this season, had a protective cover over his skate.

“It’s only the first practice, it’s one step closer to playing a game,” he said. “For whatever reason, when I started walking on it, I felt good. I removed the boot and started walking on it. It started feeling better and better. And that’s why I decided to try putting the skate on.”

Philadelphia has never won any of the six series it trailed 3-0 in. Only two NHL teams have done so.

“These circumstances can bring out the best in people,” Flyers coach Peter Laviolette said. “Lots of teams have rallied from 0-2, 0-3. That’s part of the story here. We’ve got to come back.”

In the NHL playoffs, celebrations sometimes don’t last much longer than a rookie forward’s shift on the ice. The Montreal Canadiens realized that minutes after upsetting Washington 2-1 in Game 7 of their first-round series Wednesday night, when they learned they’d be playing the Penguins less than 48 hours later.

What a reward for upsetting the team that was supposed to win the Stanley Cup: a quick turnaround before playing the team that won the Stanley Cup last season.

The Eastern Conference semifinals must begin Friday night because Point Park University’s graduation was previously scheduled for Saturday at Mellon Arena. There’s also a short break before Game 2 on Sunday afternoon in a series that will be played every other day.

The Canadiens’ reaction? We weren’t supposed to win the opening round, we won’t be favored to win this round. So drop the puck already.

“No one gave us a chance (against Presidents’ Trophy-winning) Washington,” goaltender Jaroslav Halak(notes) said shortly after the Canadiens pulled off the hockey equivalent of a No. 16 seed beating a No. 1 in the NCAA basketball tournament. “We proved them wrong.”

Here’s the still-to-be-answered question: Did the worst team to make the playoffs show enough to suggest it can beat the Penguins?

The latest Washington playoff failure looked all too familiar. The Capitals often spent too much time trying to create offense around the perimeter. Alexander Semin(notes) disappeared. Ovechkin grew increasingly frustrated as Halak stopped 131 of 134 shots over the final three games.

The Penguins—a confident team that’s won eight playoff series to Washington’s one over the last three seasons—told themselves they can’t do the same thing.

“It’s nothing we have to sit down in this room and try to figure out, something magical or different,” Crosby said Thursday. “Goalies are going to make saves. It’s going to happen. But it doesn’t mean the same things that make you successful aren’t going to be successful. You’ve got to get traffic, you’ve got to get rebounds and we’ve got to be up for the challenge. But we don’t have to change anything.”

While the Penguins were 1-2 while taking as many as six days off before a Game 1 the last two seasons, they don’t expect Montreal’s momentum to be a factor. Fatigue could be, with the Canadiens playing a third high-pressure game in five days. The Penguins last played Saturday.

“Give Montreal credit, they were in a desperation mode for three games. That’s something we have to make sure we’re aware of,” Crosby said. “They believe in their team. We’ve got to make sure we’re ready for that kind of desperation right from Game 1.”

Especially from defensemen Hal Gill(notes) and Josh Gorges(notes), who were so effective in blocking shots and controlling Ovechkin. Last season, the 6-foot-7 Gill teamed with Rob Scuderi(notes), now of the Kings, to be Pittsburgh’s shutdown combination, and the Penguins still haven’t developed a comparable duo.

“He’s a big guy, he’s strong, (he’s) got a big reach. We’re pretty familiar with each other,” Crosby said of Gill. “The challenge is there, but that’s what happens in the playoffs.”

Opposing Crosby every day in practice for several years should help in this series, Gill said. What won’t help, Gorges said, is it’s not only the Crosby line that must be contained, but the Evgeni Malkin(notes) and Jordan Staal(notes) lines, too.

“He (Crosby) practices 100 percent, to a fault. He’s crazy that way,” Gill said. “It made me a better player and hopefully I can use that against them. But he’s got a lot of moves and you’ve got to be ready for all of them.”

Something else that happens in the playoffs: The hot goaltender of today can be the benched goaltender of tomorrow. As well as Halak played in the opening round, Penguins forward Pascal Dupuis(notes) wouldn’t be surprised to see Montreal return to Carey Price(notes) at some point.

“He’s had some ups and downs, he’s obviously got losses,” Dupuis said of Halak, who is 1-1 with seven goals allowed in two games against Pittsburgh. “Let’s see if we get to him what kind of goalie rotation they’ll get to.”

There’s also this for the Penguins to consider. In the only other playoff matchup between the two franchises, seventh-seeded Montreal upset second-seeded Pittsburgh 4-2 in 1998.

Crosby, a Hart Trophy finalist, scored four times as the Penguins outscored the Canadiens 15-9 while winning three of four during the season, but the teams haven’t met since Feb. 6.

Crosby has 11 goals and 14 assists points in 18 career games against Montreal, which drafted his goaltender father, Troy, in 1984. That same year, the Penguins drafted Mario Lemieux.

Mike Cammalleri, who had five goals and five assists against Washington, has one goal in seven games against Pittsburgh. Scott Gomez(notes) has 11 goals and 40 assists in 59 games against the Penguins, and Andrei Markov(notes) has six goals and 16 assists in 26 games.

“They’re the team to beat,” Gill said of the Penguins, 8-2 in playoff series since 2007. “It’s going to be a challenge to beat them. You can play well, and it would still be difficult.”