Okay, so they haven’t closed out their series against the New York Rangers, but the Flyers have finished off the Montreal Canadiens. It didn’t look pretty early Saturday night, but the Flyers really found their momentum in the second period to put the Habs away in game 5. Carey Price started in goal for Montreal, but his confidence was no where to be found once R.J. Umberger got the initial goal for the Flyers.

On the power play (surprise, surprise) Tomas Plekanec scored at 4:29 as he deflected a Patrice Brisebois shot past Marty Biron who still came up big for the Flyers despite the early goal. At 10:20 R.J. Umberger answered with a goal of his own. The goal didn’t look pretty live, but when the replay came up, it was evident that after Umberger was crosschecked to the ice following his initial shot, he tipped in his own rebound past Carey Price. Alex Kovalev scored again to put the Habs on top at 11:28 when he positioned his skate to deflect a Maxim Lapierre offering through the five-hole of Biron.

In the second stanza, Chris Higgins scored at 8:15 from the side boards. It was the first goal of the playoffs that looked like Marty Biron had a reasonable change at stopping it. It was a goal that looked like it could have been stopped if the goaltender had the right angle, something Biron struggled with at times during the regular season. With the Flyers down two, a real leader had to step up to get his team back into it. That leader was Mike Richards. He tried to grab the puck out of mid-air so he could play it in front of the net, but he merely deflected the R.J. Umberger offering, and although inadvertently, put the puck past a helpless Price. The goal of course was under review, but the NHL rulebook sets the record straight.

Disallowed Goal - A goal cannot be scored by an attacking player
who bats or directs the puck with his hand into the net. A goal cannot
be scored by an attacking player who bats or directs the puck and it is
deflected into the net off any player, goalkeeper or official. When the
puck enters the net on a clear deflection off a glove, the goal shall be
allowed.
–NHL rule 67.6

Replays show that Richards had no intent of deflecting the puck past the Montreal net-minder. The Flyers weren’t done yet, as R.J. Umberger decided that for his 26th birthday he wanted a shit-load of Tastycakes. Umberger scored his ninth goal of the playoffs, second goal of the game, and third point, for his second case of Tastycakes in less than 20 minutes of play. At 17:00 the Flyers took their first lead of the game when Scott Hartnell took a slap-shot that rang off the right post and past Carey Price. As the Flyers headed to the locker room for the second intermission it seemed as though the night might be over for the confused, rather rejected Carey Price who was pulled in game 3 and backed up Jaroslav Halak in game 4. But when Guy Carboneau flipped the coin during intermission (that’s the only reasonable way we can assume he picks his goaltender based on what he’s done this series) the price was right.

In the third Montreal came out firing, not wanting to end their season in front of their home crowd (they already endured one riot at home after a game 7 win over Boston). At 2:13 Andrei Kostitsyn, of the Kostitsyn brothers whom have been so acclaimed during Versus’ coverage of the NHL playoffs, fired a wrist-shot through the legs of Kimmo Timonen and past Biron. About half way through the period, Danny Briere had a breakaway and went low stick-side on Price who stretched his pad out and made the save, surely gaining some of his confidence back.

At 16:56 it was officially crunch time and the Flyers were still going hard. Jeff Carter fired a wrist-shot from the high slot and Scottie Upshall deflected it behind Price to give the Flyers the 5-4 lead. The Flyers were able to breathe a bit of a sigh of relief, but never let up. With the Canadiens pressuring deep in the Flyers end the orange and black were able to hold them off and Mike Knuble put the puck in an empty net at 19:10 to end it.

The Flyers went from the worst team in hockey last year to the Eastern Conference Finals. For the first game in the series the Flyers played better than Biron rather than the other way around. The Philadelphia Flyers will advance after defeating the number 1 seeded Montreal Canadiens, to the Eastern Conference Finals. They wanted vengeance, and although they have only tasted that vengeance, they are not done yet.

Dave’s 3 Stars of the Game

1. R.J. Umberger - 2 goals 1 assist
2. Scottie Upshall - game winning goal
3. Mike Richards - 1 goal 1 assist

Photo courtesy: The Canadian Press

First it was Ryan Howard. Then it was Jimmy Rollins. Now it seems as though Chase Utley doesn’t want to wait until the end of the season to make his MVP campaign heard. The Phillies’ second baseman is playing unbelievably at the plate these days with staggering numbers in almost every category.

Chase is often seen as one of the hardest working players off the field. You always hear whether it be on the telecasts or on SportsNite pieces about how dedicated

Utley is to his game and spends so much time reviewing film of the pitcher he will face next. That hard work is paying off early for the Fightin’s. As of Friday night’s game, Utley leads the majors with 12 home runs. The next closest is Lance Berkman of the Astros with 9. He is tied for third in the majors with Chipper Jones with a .364 average at the plate.

Utley is tied for second in the majors with 27 runs, and first in total bases with 91. The next closest there is Derrek Lee with 77. Utley’s work ethic off the field is apparently contagious, because Pat Burrell is also turning it up early this season.

Burrell makes $14 million this season and is looking for a new deal. He says he wants to stay. Burrell is in a contract year and trying to impress the Phillies front office. He isn’t doing too bad so far. Pat the Bat leads the NL with 28 runs batted in, and is fourth in the majors with a .452 on base percentage. He is second only behind his teammate Chase Utley (.771) in the major leagues with a .690 slugging percentage.

Those two early MVP candidates are picking up the slack for the Phillies batting lineup. They have been without lead-off man Jimmy Rollins since April 8. Reigning MVP Jimmy Rollins has only played 12 games this season. He has been on the DL with a left ankle injury. Reports say J-Roll could return to the Phillies this Thursday.

The injury bug hit the second hitter, Shane Victorino, on April 12. He returned to the starting lineup on May 1. Although he hasn’t been injured, Ryan Howard hasn’t played like the Phillies know he can. Howard leads the majors with 42 strikeouts. He had 199 in 2007 and it looks like he could beat that record in 2008 if he keeps it up with his .176 average.

Burrell and Utley have been the stars thus far as the Phils have gotten off to one of their best starts in recent memory. They now sit atop the NL East with a record of 17-13.

Photos courtesy: blogs.phillynews.com, Dave Isaac