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Flyers Vs. Canadiens, 7 ET: Battle For Crucial Playoff Positioning
Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - Jaroslav Halak stopped all 35 shots he faced to post his fourth shutout of the season as Montreal clipped Philadelphia, 1-0, at Wachovia Center.
Tomas Plekanec recorded the lone score for the Canadiens, who had lost five of six coming in but with the victory moved alone into sixth place in the Eastern Conference with 84 points, two ahead of Philadelphia and idle Boston.
Brian Boucher suffered another tough defeat, making 22 saves for the Flyers, who lost for the seventh time in eight games and were blanked at home for the first time since December 10.
Plekanec put the Habs up at 9:25 of the first period when he one-timed an Andrei Kostitsyn feed from the high slot.
Boucher, though, withstood several Montreal bursts in the offensive zone, ending with eight other stops through one period.
Both netminders battled in the scoreless second period, with Halak needing to be strong on a breakaway by Arron Asham early on, then stopping two successive chances by Mike Richards at the right post with five minutes remaining.
Boucher foiled Scott Gomez from in close in the opening minutes, then fended off a Brian Gionta shot from a 3-on-1 break midway through.
Philadelphia rookie James van Riemsdyk had a goal wiped out on a power play at the 4:22 mark of the third when it was ruled that he touched the puck with a high stick. He was also denied with five minutes remaining as Halak got his shoulder on a rising shot, then dove to the post to turn away Richards' bid in the crease.
Boucher was called to the bench for an extra attacker with 1:34 to play, briefly returned to the crease with 41.6 to go, then departed with less than 20 seconds left.
The Flyers had to defend several Canadiens chances to the empty net but could not generate quality chances on offense before time expired.
Halak recorded his eighth career whitewash...The clubs split four meetings this season, with each team winning once at home and once on the road...The Canadiens have won nine of the last 12 meetings with the Flyers since the start of the 2007-08 campaign...Earlier Friday, Philly signed veteran goaltender Sebastien Caron for the remainder of the season. Caron last played in the NHL in 2006-07 with Anaheim and had been playing in Switzerland this year.
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