Flyers shut out punchless Habs

Philadelphia's Claude Giroux beats goalie Jaroslav Halak on a drive to the net early in the second period to open the scoring in Game 4. Philadelphia’s Claude Giroux beats goalie Jaroslav Halak on a drive to the net early in the second period to open the scoring in Game 4. (Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

The Montreal Canadiens lost their speed game and as a result are in a whole heap of trouble in the Eastern Conference final.

Much to the dismay of a disappointed capacity crowd of 21,273 at the Bell Centre, the Canadiens mustered only 17 shots on goal in a 3-0 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday afternoon.

The Flyers now return home with a 3-1 series lead, with Game 5 set for the Wachovia Center on Monday.

After a brilliant performance in Game 3, the Canadiens were stymied by a relentless forecheck from the Flyers. Montreal was sloppy, but it didn’t help that the Flyers stepped up their skating to prevent the Canadiens from picking up where they left off from their impressive 5-1 win last Thursday.

Down by two goals after 40 minutes, the Canadiens had a pair of power-play opportunities in the third period. But Montreal struggled, handing Philadelphia goalie Michael Leighton his third shutout of the series.

Flyers centre Claude Giroux added an empty-net goal with 1:13 seconds remaining for his second of the night.

The Flyers welcomed back to the lineup Jeff Carter (foot) and Ian Lapierriere (head). They had missed the previous 11 and 10 games, respectively.

The Flyers vowed to get off to a better start, and they did just that with their ideal first period in the series. Still, the two teams left for the dressing rooms without a goal being scored. One of the reasons there were no goals in the opening 20 minutes was a brilliant save that Montreal goalie Jaroslav Halak made on Carter early on.

The Canadiens were lacklustre in the second period. They put only one shot on Leighton, and that was a bad-angle shot from Maxim Lapierre by the time the period already was 13:34 old.

By then Flyers enjoyed a 1-0 lead. Giroux whizzed around Canadiens defenceman Josh Gorges. Philadelphia went up 2-0 when Chris Pronger snatched up a loose puck and sent in Ville Leino for a breakaway goal.

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