Philadelphia Flyers vs. Montreal Canadiens
Free Pick: Montreal Canadiens -125 odds
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Do or die for Montreal here in my opinion.

Although the Habs came back from a 3-1 hole to beat Washington in the first round, and then beat the defending Stanley Cup Champs in seven games in the second, to ask this team to come back from a 3-0 deficit (like the Flyers just historically did), is not going to be possible in my opinion.

If Montreal is ever going to win a game in this series, tonight’s the night; and there are plenty of reasons to believe it will.

One of the main reasons the Habs are in the Eastern Conference Finals has been their ability to focus in on their opponents top line and scorers; Ovechkin and Backstrom in Round 1, and Crosby and Malkin in Game 2.

There is a big difference between those teams and the Flyers though; Philadelphia doesn’t have a “super star” line or players; it has a very balanced offensive attack.

Montreal has been extremely adept at making necessary adjustments after a loss in the post-season and must come out with a different game plan as far as slowing down the Flyers offense is concerned.

But there’s no question what must be done in order to break Michael Leighton’s two-game shut-out streak; plenty of shots and traffic in front of the net.

Keep in mind though, Montreal did outshoot the Flyers 30-23 in Game 2; 16-6 in the first frame!

However, the Habs uncharacteristically seemed to “pack it in” during the third period as they managed just four shots on the Flyers netminder.

And that’s where the Bell Center comes into play this evening; the Habs won’t need to look any farther than a millimetre behind the glass for added motivation tonight as the Montreal faithful will be going ballistic.

There’s one other factor tonight that many have either not taken into consideration, or overlooked or even written off; and that’s Jaroslav Halak.

Without question, Montreal would not be in the Eastern Conference Finals if not for the Slovakian goaltender; I expect Halak to have his best game of this series tonight; remember as well that Montreal is 5-2 (+8 units) when trailing in a playoff series.

Philadelphia is a sub-par 4-4 (-1 unit) after shutting out its opponent in its previous contest.

With its back against the wall, I believe MONTREAL will claw its way back into this series.

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