Philadelphia Daily News (Ed Barkowitz):
WASHINGTON – If you want to be the best, you have to beat the best, right?
Well, that’s what the Flyers face now.
The Flyers, after defeating the Capitals, 3-2, in overtime last night, will take on Montreal, the Eastern Conference’s top seed, in the second round beginning tomorrow.
The Canadiens needed seven games to swat away a pesky Bruins team that almost made a miraculous comeback from a 3-1 deficit. The Canadiens closed out the first-round series on Monday by thumping the Bruins, 5-0.
The Flyers lost all four meetings with Montreal this season by a combined score of 15-6.
The Canadiens don’t have a dominating forward like Washington’s Alex Ovechkin, but they do have goaltender Carey Price and the league’s best power play.
Price beat the Flyers three times, including his first career shutout on Feb. 16 when he made 34 saves in a 1-0 win at Montreal.
Martin Biron, who has settled in as the Flyers’ No. 1 goalie, was on the bench for three of the games against the Canadiens. He surrendered all the goals in a 5-2 loss on Nov. 1. In his career, Biron is 12-7 with a 2.17 goals-against average against Montreal.
The Flyers have lost six straight to Montreal and have only one win in the last three seasons at the Bell Centre.
The Canadiens have won three of four playoff series against the Flyers, the last coming in the 1989 conference finals, which the Canadiens won in six games.
The first two games – tomorrow and Saturday – are in Montreal. For one Flyer, in particular, the hostility in Montreal will be off the charts.
Danny Briere, who turned down a chance to play for his hometown Canadiens in the offseason, can expect to be booed every time he touches the puck. But, he said amid last night’s celebration, that’s a worry for another day – like today.
“I’ll deal with it [today],” he said. “It’s going to be crazy, I know that. Right now, it’s all about tonight.” *
SEASON SERIES:
FLYERS (6) vs. CANADIENS (1)
(Home team in Caps)
Nov. 1: CANADIENS 5, Flyers 2
Dec. 13: Canadiens 4, FLYERS 1
Feb. 16: CANADIENS 1, Flyers 0
Feb. 17: Canadiens 5, FLYERS 3
FLYERS LEADERS
Goals: Mike Richards 2.
Assists: Danny Briere 2, R.J. Umberger 2.
Goalies: Martin Biron 0-1-0, 5.04 GAA; Antero Niittymaki 0-3-0, 3.02 GAA.
Power Play: 3-23 overall (13.0%), 1-12 home (8.3%), 2-11 road (18.2%).
CANADIENS LEADERS
Goals: Christopher Higgins 2, Saku Koivu 2, Andrei Kostitsyn 2, Alexei Kovalev 2, Mark Streit 2.
Assists: Andrei Markov 6, Alexei Kovalev 4, Tomas Plekanec 3, Saku Koivu 2, Andrei Kostitsyn 2.
Goalies: Carey Price 3-0-0, 1.34 GAA; Jaroslav Halak DNP, Cristobal Huet (now with Washington), 1-0-0, 2.00 GAA.
Power Play: 6-25 overall (24.0%), 3-12 home (25.0%), 3-13 road (23.1%).
