“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.

It’s been quite a journey for Philadelphia, which nearly missed the playoffs. The Flyers needed a shootout victory over the New York Rangers in the last game of the regular season just to clinch a spot as the No. 7 seed.

The Canadiens got in as the eighth seed and then knocked off Presidents’ Trophy-winning Washington after falling behind 3-1. Montreal trailed Pittsburgh 3-2 before advancing past the defending Stanley Cup champions in the second round.

“We have to be careful,” Flyers forward Danny Briere said. “If there’s a team that would know that, it’s us, with what we were able to do in the previous round to the Bruins, and also what Montreal did to Washington and Pittsburgh. We’re definitely not going to take them for granted. There’s still one big win.

“We always say the fourth one or the last one is always the toughest to get against a team. We expect them to come out with a lot of desperation in Game 5, but at the same time, yes, we know we’re getting closer.”

The Canadiens are hoping for one more comeback after an impressive run just to get this far.

“We’ll have to regroup,” Montreal coach Jacques Martin said. “We know how we have to play, and I think we need certain areas of our game that need to be better.”

The Flyers bounced back from a 5-1 loss in Game 3 with a dominant defensive performance in Saturday’s 3-0 victory in Montreal. Michael Leighton stopped 17 shots to become the 13th NHL goalie to have three shutouts in one series. Leighton is 5-1 with a 1.37 goals-against average since replacing the injured Brian Boucher.

He had a relatively easy time in Game 4 because the defense, particularly from the forwards, was outstanding. The Flyers blocked 27 shots in front of Leighton, who has a .951 save percentage in these playoffs.

“We talked right before the game, and said we want to block as many shots and stop them charging the net, and we definitely did that,” Leighton said. “Our ‘D’ did a great job doing that, and our forwards at the point were doing a good job blocking shots, too.”

The Flyers, who haven’t won the Stanley Cup since 1975, are 18-2 with a 3-1 series lead. None of that matters to the Canadiens.

“We put ourselves in this hole and it is what it is. We’ve got to go and win a game,” Montreal defenseman Hal Gill said.

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.”

The Flyers rallied from 3-0 down on Friday in Game 7 to win 4-3—capping a comeback from 3-0 down in the series against Boston. Philadelphia is the third NHL team to wipe away such a deficit and win, and the fourth overall in major North American sports.

“When I got home (Friday) night, I turned the sports on and they had on a replay of the game,” said forward Scott Hartnell(notes), who scored Philadelphia’s second goal. “They had ‘God Bless America,’ and I just kind of got chills watching it because I knew what the outcome of the game was. I didn’t watch the whole game, although I probably should have.”

Montreal, the NHL leader with 24 Stanley Cup titles, is in the conference finals for the first time since its last championship in 1993.

“If you have a letdown and kind of take a breath after last night’s game, it’s probably not going to go the way that you want,” Flyers captain Mike Richards(notes) said.

If Philadelphia gets caught snoozing now, it could be left on the wayside by Montreal the same way championship contenders Washington and Pittsburgh were in the first two rounds.

“We’re proud of what we did, but at the same time after talking about it today, we have to focus on the Montreal Canadiens,” said forward Simon Gagne(notes), who made a quick return from injury and scored the winning goal in Games 4 and 7 against Boston. “It might be tough, but we have to do it.”

The Canadiens and Flyers split four games during the season, with Philadelphia holding a slim 10-8 advantage in goals. With both clubs fighting for playoff spots down the stretch, Montreal’s Jaroslav Halak(notes) made 35 saves in a 1-0 victory at Philadelphia on April 2.

Halak was the difference on defense for the Canadiens’ in their back-to-back, seven-game series wins. Michael Cammalleri(notes) has powered the offense with an NHL-best 12 playoff goals. He scored seven against the Penguins.

The Flyers got into the playoffs with a shootout win over the New York Rangers on the last day of the season. Montreal earned its spot the night before, but had to settle for the No. 8 seed.

“It’s easy to hate the Flyers,” Canadiens defenseman Hal Gill(notes) said. “They’ve been the Broad Street Bullies. Their fans are loud and obnoxious. If you’re from Philly, that’s great. If you’re not, you hate them. It’s fun to hate the Flyers, just like it’s fun for them to hate our fans and our team. It should be a good series as far as hate goes.”

As surprising as their rallies and Boston’s collapses were, the fact that the seventh-seeded Flyers have home-ice advantage in the Eastern Conference finals is nearly as improbable.

Only the unexpected run by No. 8 seed Montreal through No. 1 Washington and defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh made that possible for a bottom two-seed matchup never before seen in the NHL.

The Flyers stayed off the ice as they began preparing for the Canadiens, who practiced in Montreal.

One by one Philadelphia’s major players filed into an interview room wearing variations of baseball caps, shorts and comfortable shoes. Coach Peter Laviolette went with sandals. Hulking defenseman Chris Pronger(notes) was barefoot after logging nearly 32 minutes of ice time in Game 7.

They all wore smiles and similar looks of disbelief.

Montreal has had a few extra days to get ready for the East finals. The Canadiens eliminated Pittsburgh on Wednesday, and then waited until Friday night to learn where they would open the next round.

The Flyers are dealing with a quick turnaround this time, a sharp contrast to their eight-day layoff after beating New Jersey in five games in the first round.

The Canadiens will still likely be without top defenseman Andrei Markov(notes), who hasn’t played since injuring a knee in the series opener against Pittsburgh.

“He’s not ready to play, that’s why he didn’t skate,” Canadiens coach Jacques Martin said Saturday. “His situation hasn’t changed. It’s indefinite.”

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.

“It’s going to be a great series,” Sharks center Joe Thornton(notes) said. “I think everybody, at least in our locker room, thought it’s going to come down to one of us in the conference final going to the final. It’s just going to be an exciting series. It’s going to be a lot of fun to play in.”

Both teams are eager to get this started. The Sharks will have had seven full days off since beating Detroit, while Chicago will have had a four-day break since dispatching Vancouver.

The Sharks geared up, backed off and picked up the pace again as they waited to find out when this series would open. The Blackhawks took a day off Friday to tour Alcatraz before returning to the ice Saturday.

“Both teams might come out a little sloppy, but I’m sure we’ll find our game pretty soon in the series,” Chicago forward Patrick Kane(notes) said. “I think it’s going to make for a great series. I think there’s a lot of great players.”

Seven of them won gold medals for Canada earlier this year. Thornton was joined on the squad by linemates Patrick Marleau(notes) and Dany Heatley(notes) and defenseman Dan Boyle(notes). There they were teammates with Chicago’s Jonathan Toews(notes), Duncan Keith(notes) and Brent Seabrook(notes).

They will now be on opposite sides with another big prize on the line.

“I’ll be hacking Johnny as much as I can,” Thornton said. “I loved him for two weeks in February. But you know, that’s different now.”

Those temporary alliances from Vancouver are clearly a thing of the past for both sides.

“I’m looking forward to giving him a few whacks, too,” Toews said.

Toews has been brilliant this postseason, leading all players with 20 points. He has gotten plenty of help from Kane and Dustin Byfuglien(notes), who has four goals and provides a big presence in front of the net. There’s not much drop-off to the second line of Sharp, Marian Hossa(notes) and Troy Brouwer(notes).

San Jose presents a similar challenge with the gold medal line that had seven goals and 12 assists in five games against Detroit, followed up by Joe Pavelski(notes), Devin Setoguchi(notes) and Ryane Clowe(notes), who have 16 goals and 17 assists this postseason.

While this meeting may have seemed to be inevitable, all it takes is a look at the Eastern Conference, where seventh-seeded Philadelphia is taking on eighth-seeded Montreal in the conference final, to show that’s not the case.

The Sharks can look at their own history as well. Despite having the second-best record in the league the past five seasons, San Jose was unable to make it past the second round in that span.

The Sharks have never made it to the Stanley Cup finals, losing their only appearance ever in the conference final in six games to Calgary in 2004.

“You appreciate how long it does take to get there and how hard it is to get there,” said Marleau, who along with goalie Evgeni Nabokov(notes) are the only players remaining from the 2004 team. “You have to take advantage of the opportunity when it presents itself, being this year.”

The Sharks have begun to shed the label of postseason underachievers after losing in the first round as the top seed last year and in the second round the three previous years.

The Blackhawks have an even longer run of postseason disappointments, having not won the Stanley Cup since 1961—the longest drought for an Original Six team. Chicago has only been to the final once since 1973, getting swept by Pittsburgh in 1992.

For the second straight year they are one step away from a return to the Stanley Cup final.

“We shouldn’t feel satisfied,” Chicago coach Joel Quenneville said. “We shouldn’t feel like we’ve accomplished anything. I know getting back to where we got to last year, it’s where we wanted to be. But getting to the next round is what we’re all about.”

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

“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.”

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.”