Montreal, QC (Sports Network) - Jaroslav Halak made 25 saves, as the Montreal Canadiens shoved back with a convincing 5-1 victory over Philadelphia in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals at Bell Centre.
The eighth-seeded Canadiens finally solved playoff novice Michael Leighton, who registered consecutive shutouts by turning away all 58 shots Montreal had fired at him in the first two games of this series.
Dominic Moore and Tom Pyatt both picked up a goal and one assist for the Habs, while Michael Cammalleri, Brian Gionta and Marc-Andre Bergeron also tallied.
Montreal has been resilient this postseason, rallying from a 3-1 series deficit against Washington and a 3-2 hole against defending champion Pittsburgh in Round 2. The Canadiens will look to even this best-of-seven set when they host Game 4 on Saturday.
Simon Gagne scored in the third period for the seventh-seeded Flyers, who sported a 24-8 advantage in goals during their six-game winning streak.
A journeyman goalie claimed off of waivers by Philadelphia for the second time in his career back in December, Leighton had won four straight since taking over the starting job after Brian Boucher hurt both knees during Game 5 against Boston.
The Ontario native, who turned 29 on Wednesday, finished with 33 saves.
The Canadiens rediscovered their scoring touch, beating Leighton twice in the first period.
Montreal rookie defenseman P.K. Subban unloaded a shot from the right point that sailed wide of the net and caromed off the glass. The puck came around the near post and Cammalleri jumped on the loose disc, sending it behind Leighton at 7:05.
Cammalleri's NHL-leading 13th goal of the playoffs snapped Leighton's shutout streak at 172 minutes, 55 seconds. He hadn't allowed a goal since the first period of Game 7 versus the Bruins.
A ghastly turnover by Philadelphia's Chris Pronger in the defensive zone resulted in a 2-0 lead for the home team. Moore gathered in the puck, and fired a wrister from the right wing. Maxim Lapierre tipped the shot off the near post before Pyatt pushed in the rebound at 16:52.
Moore made it a 3-0 game on a broken play in the high slot, snapping a low shot through Leighton's pads at 11:33 of the middle stanza.
Gionta provided insurance two minutes into the third, breaking clear in the slot and sliding a shot under Leighton's pad at the right post.
Gagne put the Flyers on the board at 8:22, but Bergeron capped the offensive surge with a power-play goal in the final minute.
Subban collected three assists...Montreal defenseman Roman Hamrlik had two assists and a plus-four rating...Pronger was a minus-3...Boucher owns the longest scoreless streak in Philadelphia playoff history, playing 184:45 of shutout hockey in the 2000 postseason...The Habs won for the first time in the 2010 playoffs when outshooting their opponents (1-5)...Montreal finished 1- for-7 on the power play. Philadelphia was a perfect 8-for-8 on the penalty kill in the first two games...Gagne has recorded a point in each of his seven games since returning from a broken toe...The Canadiens played the 700th postseason game in franchise history...The last goaltender to post a shutout in three straight playoff games was Ilya Bryzgalov with Anaheim in 2006...Leighton started four games for the Flyers after being claimed on waivers from Nashville during the 2006-07 campaign, going 2-2-0 with a 3.69 goals-against average and an .882 save percentage.