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PHILADELPHIA — Choking situation? Or brilliant move — hard as it might have been for one young man in particular to swallow?
At times last night, both seemed possible.
Montreal Canadiens head coach Guy Carbonneau went far more with his gut than with his brain when he elected to go with an untried 22-year-old sophomore in goal rather than the team's 20-year-old rookie sensation.
"It's my decision," Carbonneau said, "because I'm the one who's going to get blamed."
Philadelphia Flyers goaltender Martin Biron. (Paul Chiasson/The Canadian Press)
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Daniel Brière's power-play goal late in the third period helps Philadelphia take a commanding lead
Related Information
- Montreal Canadiens
- Philadelphia Flyers
- Martin Biron
- Daniel Briere
- Jeff Carter
- Jaroslav Halak
- Scott Hartnell
- Vaclav Prospal
- R.J. Umberger
Sixty minutes of hockey later, with the Philadelphia Flyers hanging on for a 4-2 victory to take a 3-1, uh, stranglehold on this series, he was surely getting both blame and credit.
But with the dogwood in full bloom in Philadelphia, it seemed the ice had suddenly gone out in Carey Price's veins. A change had to be considered.
And yet, the safe move for Carbonneau would have been to stick with Price, who had played poorly in the third game of the series, rather than turn to Jaroslav Halak for the fourth game.
The reasoning would have been simplicity itself. You stick with the one who brought you this far. And what of the long-term risk to the confidence of the goaltender of the future?
But Carbonneau gambled in going with untried Halak, who held a Stanley Cup playoff career record of 19 minutes played and all of two shots faced. On the other hand, he had never been scored on.
Price, on the other hand, had lost four of his past six games and had been clearly "rattled" by the boisterous Wachovia Center crowd on Monday in the third game.
Price had said he "expected" to play last night, but during the morning skate had courteously allowed Halak to skate off the ice first, a signal that both goalies knew, even though Carbonneau refused to tip his hand.
Most surprised by this daring move might well have been one of the assistant coaches standing behind the Flyers bench: Terry Murray.
It was Murray who, back in 1997, became a chapter in the Official NHL Coach's Survival Manual when he declared that goaltenders are so important during playoffs that "As far as you go, they're taking you."
It was also Murray, at that time the head coach of the Flyers, who established the dictum swap goalies at your peril that same year, when he kept flip-flopping between Ron Hextall and Garth Snow.
When those 1997 Flyers came up against Detroit Red Wings in the Stanley Cup final, Murray replaced Hextall with Snow after Hextall was beaten by a long shot, then replaced Snow with Hextall for the same reason.
With his goaltenders confused and his skaters panicking, Murray, a man known for his straight talk, suggested his team was "basically in a choking situation" — a phrase that immediately entered the Official NHL Coach's Survival Manual as one never to be uttered if you hope to keep your job. Murray did not.
Current Flyers goaltender Martin Biron was once again solid, but so, too, was young Halak this night for the most part.
"I was surprised," Halak said, "but ready."
Biron, at the other end of the ice, was equally surprised to see Halak in the opposite net, "but I think he played very well."
Halak made his first save little more than a minute into the game and shortly after stopped Jeff Carter on a breakaway. "I got lucky," he said.
Luck counts as much as skill in hockey, and Halak held out until nearly the halfway point of the game, only to have R.J. Umberger score on a power play with a wrist shot that either Halak or Price should have had.
Early in the third period, a bad giveaway sent Vaclav Prospal and Scott Hartnell flying in on the young Slovak goalie. Prospal hit the far goal post and Hartnell easily scored on the rebound.
For the fourth consecutive game, the Flyers were ahead 2-0.
But then, in a remarkable turn of luck, the Canadiens scored twice in the middle of the third period to tie the score and, for a brief shining moment, give Carbonneau's great gamble some life.
It did not last long enough, though. Yet another Montreal penalty and little Daniel Brière put an end to what might have been a playoff legend.
"Habs," read a sign raised after the Flyers scored into the empty net, "it's over!"
Well, not officially. There remains the fifth game, which now becomes a true "must win" situation for Montreal.
Halak or Price? Price or Halak? Halak or Price? …
It really doesn't matter, it appears, quite so much as those Montreal players not wearing the big pads getting pucks past the big pads at the other end.
