Canadiens say special teams the difference

After enduring a whipping at the hands of the Flyers in the opener of the Eastern Conference finals, the Montreal Canadiens faced gut-check time in Game 2 Tuesday night.

The embarrassed Canadiens mustered a better end-to-end performance, but were just as ineffective on special teams and in converting scoring chances. The result was another shutout defeat - this time by 3-0 - before a thrilled-to-pieces crowd at the Wachovia Center.

No redemption for the Habs. No split in the City of Brotherly Love. No sense of renewed life heading back to the Bell Centre. This, despite a 30-23 advantage in shots.

"We did certain things much better tonight," Montreal coach Jacques Martin said. "The difference, obviously, in the hockey game was the special teams. They got two power-play goals, and we got none [in four tries]."

Montreal, of course, is no stranger to being down and all but counted out in the playoffs. The team trailed Washington by three games to one in the first round.

But the Flyers have a two-game cushion and history on their side. They own a 16-0 series mark when ahead by two games to none.

"We did some good things out there," Canadiens center Scott Gomez said. "Special teams, they got us right now. They kept their home ice, and now we have to go get ours.

"There's not much you can say. I mean, you got to score to win in this game, and we haven't found a way to do that yet."

Michael Leighton, just hours before his 29th birthday, stopped 30 shots, including a stellar glove save of PK Subban's third-period slap shot, en route to the shutout.

"Give the guy credit," Gomez said. "He played great."

Montreal failed to capitalize on three first-period power-play chances. On the second, the result of a holding call against Ville Leino, Michael Cammalleri, Tomas Plekanec, Andrei Kostitsyn, Subban, and Marc-Andre Bergeron peppered Leighton with a flurry of shots. Leighton stood tall in preserving a 1-0 advantage.

"I had two doorstep shots off rebounds," Cammalleri said. "This can be a funny game. We just need to keep shooting. Eventually, we'll burst the bubble."

The Canadiens outshot the seventh-seeded Flyers, 20-6, in the opening 24 minutes. But there was no getting past Leighton.

"We have to get a little more dirty in front of the net, get some more traffic in front of him," Gomez said.

On his power-play goal early in the first period, Danny Briere skated toward the middle and slowed just a second against defenseman Hal Gill. The move paid off, with the center gaining some space and beating Jaroslav Halak to the glove side. Gomez, whistled for roughing and slashing in Game 1, was in the penalty box for holding.

Cammalleri, who entered the series with 12 goals and six assists in the playoffs, was kept at bay again. The left winger, who took four shots, last scored in the second period of a Game 7 win over Pittsburgh in the Eastern semifinals.

In the third period, Plekanec, venting some of his frustration, tussled in the corner with Flyers defenseman Kimmo Timonen, who objected to being gloved in the head while down on the ice.

"We can't just go out back and expect it to all change," Gill said. "We have to work at it. They're a good team, they're playing well, they have momentum, and we have to find a way to break that momentum and make it go our way."