Making it Interesting

Empowered with emotion generating from the vibe of the home crowd to the team on the ice, the Montreal Canadiens found out how to skate with the Philadelphia Flyers.

With the series shifting back up north of the border, it seemed to take the frigid North East atmosphere with it.

Why you ask?  I’ll answer that for you.

It’s because the Canadiens were cold and angry last night.

Something that they were unable to do in the previous two games, the Habs, with the white towels waiving ferociously behind them, came out and earned the first goal of the game and it came early.

This fired the crowd up to a level that would have been thought to be nearly impossible, considering the start to this series.

Michael Cammalleri powered a fluky bounce which careened off the boards behind the night passed Flyers netminder Michael Leighton, breaking his shutout streak which went a total of 172 minutes and 55 seconds.

Queue the flood gates.

Montreal built massive momentum from earning the nights first goal and it turned them into an absolute different team from what was witnessed during games one and two.

Enter Tom Pyatt.

Last night Pyatt extended a helping hand for the Habs in defeating the Philadelphia Flyers with force.

Ex-GM Bob Gainey must have known something Glen Sather and the New York Rangers didn’t.

Pyatt, who was traded from the New York Rangers to Montreal on June 30th, 2009, along with Scott Gomez as a salary dump in order to open enough room to acquire star sniper Marian Gaborik, was the story of the show in Montreal.

The Canadiens bottom six forward took 23 shifts for a total of 15:53 ice time. However, the stats that truly stand out were his one goal, one assist and plus-1 rating. His first period tally would prove to be the eventual game winning goal.

He along with agitating bottom six forward Maxim Lapierre combined for three of the fifteen points earned on the night by Canadiens skaters.

Injury replacement for Andrei Markov, young and promising P.K. Subban, collected three assists on the evening to lead all Habs skaters in points for the game.

Not only did Subban and Lapierre contribute on the score sheet, but they played as solid of a game as anyone.  Getting under the skin of the Flyers skaters was mission accomplished for both.

Anyone catch Subban stand right up and into the face of Flyers blueline barbarian Chris Pronger?  Not a bad way to create an extended welcome for yourself to the league, eh P.K.?

The home crowd loved it.

But all that was put aside when the three stars of the night were announced. Pyatt, who has been playing and is known for a more defensive type game, earned his second goal of these 2010 Playoffs . His solid performance was worthy of getting the nod as one of the three stars of the game.

Dominic Moore, Brian Gionta and Marc-Andre Bergeron were the other players adding tallies on the evening.

What look like it was going to be a dump and chase play turned into a pretty goal being scored.

Gionta found a puck bounce at his feet over a leaping Flyers defender. Patience with the puck as he broke in from right above the circles on a partial breakaway was the key factor leading to his goal.

Constant Conn Smythe mention Jaroslav Halak ended the night with 25 saves en route to Montreals 5-1 victory. Simon Gagne broke his shutout bid at 8:22 of the third period.

Not bad for a nights work, eh?

Game four goes tomorrow at 3 p.m. EST from Montreal.