Bell Centre

Who: Flyers (12-4-2) at Montreal Canadiens (11-5-1) When: 7 o'clock Where: Bell Centre TV: Versus Radio: WIP (610-AM)

Who: Flyers (seventh seed) vs. Canadiens (eighth seed) What: Game 4, Eastern Conference best-of-seven final. Flyers lead series, 2-1. When: Today, 3 o'clock Where: Bell Centre, Montreal TV: NBC Radio: WIP (610-AM) Frank Seravalli's 3 keys to Game 4 1 First goal: The Flyers need to score first in order to quiet the raucous Bell Centre crowd. 2 Matchups: The Flyers' third defensive pair was exposed with the Canadiens having the rite of last line change on home ice. 3 Leighton-up: Michael Leighton (above)

Two days after several Flyers observed some kind of sand-like substance in the tunnel outside of their dressing room in Montreal - which, some say, forced them to repeatedly resharpen their skates during their Game 4 victory, and which resulted in towels being laid in the hallway later in the game - Canadiens coach Jacques Martin categorically denied that there had been a problem. Flyers officials have gone out of their way to say that they knew nothing about any sand, and nobody has accused anybody of anything nefarious.

Jaroslav Halak came up with the performance the Montreal Canadiens needed to avoid their longest home losing streak in 9 years. Halak made 38 saves for his second shutout, and Montreal beat the Florida Panthers, 2-0, last night for its first home win in a month. Halak recorded his sixth NHL shutout and improved to 6-1 in his last seven starts, including a 5-4 win at Florida in his previous outing 1 week earlier. He is 4-0 overall against the Panthers. "We've got four games at home and we knew that this was a big game for us because this team was following us [in the standings]

From his time as captain to his tenure as general manager, Bob Gainey has spent a lifetime providing leadership for the Montreal Canadiens. Now, he's handing the reins to a trusted colleague. Gainey stepped aside yesterday as Montreal's general manager and was replaced by assistant Pierre Gauthier in a surprising front-office shakeup for hockey's most storied franchise. Team president Pierre Boivin - with Gainey and Gauthier on either side of him - made the announcement at a Bell Centre news conference.

MONTREAL - There may be a pattern developing in the Eastern Conference finals, a pattern familiar to the Flyers and one that could end up haunting them. After their 3-0 loss to the Flyers in Game 2 Tuesday at the Wachovia Center, a defeat that put them behind by two games to none, the Montreal Canadiens spoke as if they'd caught on to something that would change the tenor of the series. They believed that they deserved a better fate and that, even though they lost, they were on the cusp of turning the series in their favor.

Forty-one people were arrested in the Montreal mayhem after the Canadiens' Game 7 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins. Some stores were looted and police fired tear gas at hundreds of bottle-throwers. The Canadiens ousted the defending champions Wednesday night to reach the Eastern Conference final against Boston or the Flyers, prompting a celebration that degenerated into the looting of several businesses along the Sainte-Catherine Street shopping district. Those arrested early yesterday were charged with breaking and entering, theft, assault and public mischief, police chief inspector Sylvain Lemay said Police estimated as many as 50,000 people took part in celebration outside the downtown arena.

MONTREAL - The Flyers and Canadiens both spent time in Bell Centre on Wednesday. Montreal coach Jacques Martin held a 45-minute meeting, desperately searching for something, anything that would help his players break out in Game 3. It is hard to think about winning a series before you win a game, and it is hard to win a game if you can't even score a goal. The Flyers? They took the morning off, caught up on some sleep, then caught a charter flight in the afternoon. Coach Peter Laviolette and a handful of players swung by the arena for low-key, good-natured news conferences.

MONTREAL - The Canadiens, owners of the steeped franchise's worst start to a season in 71 years, were desperate. How hungry? With the city up in arms, demanding change in the Canadiens' organization, Montreal general manager Pierre Gauthier fired assistant coach Perry Pearn just hours before last night's game. As if Pearn - a well-respected assistant - was the reason the Canadiens were 1-5-2 and without five key players, all sitting out with injuries. Searching for their first home win of the season - including five preseason home games - Montreal shoved forward and leading scorer Max Pacioretty back into the lineup, just 2 days after he tore tendons in his wrist against Florida.

MONTREAL - Minus a certain outspoken captain, the Flyers' dressing room was a little more quiet, and their defensive rotation was a lot more unstable on Wednesday night. Welcome to the team's latest version of Life Without Pronger. Like they did 32 times during last year's regular season, the Flyers played without star defenseman Chris Pronger when they faced the free-falling Canadiens. If Wednesday's result is any indication, it's going to be a bumpy two or three weeks for the Flyers.

Playing at: Lehigh Valley (AAA). Position: Relief pitcher. Height: 6-7. Weight: 255. Age: 21. Born: Jan. 7, 1989, in Gatineau, Quebec. Bats: Left. Throws: Right. How acquired: As part of the trade, along with OF Tyson Gillies and RHP J.C. Ramirez, that sent Cliff Lee to Seattle on Dec. 16, 2009 . . . Originally selected by the Mariners in the first round (11th overall) in 2007. This season: Was moved exclusively into the bullpen following a disastrous 2010 when he was starting . . . He's mostly pitched very well, but he's allowed runs in three of his last six outings and his ERA has gone up to 3.54 . . . Is a candidate to be called up the majors when rosters expand tomorrow.

MONTREAL - You can't really manufacture history, but you can try to manufacture hype. When the rematch of WBC light-heavyweight champion Jean Pascal (26-0-1, 16 KOs) and challenger Bernard "The Executioner" Hopkins (51-5-2, 32 KOs) was announced in February, the Washington, D.C., media-relations firm that handles Hopkins came up with the idea to have him enter the ring here tomorrow night at the Bell Centre in a vintage Bobby Clarke sweater, ostensibly to remind the crowd of some of the great hockey battles between the Flyers and the Montreal Canadiens.

The Boston Bruins are hoping to make the most of a second opportunity at home-ice advantage against the Montreal Canadiens. Not that it has done either team any good so far. Michael Ryder scored 1:59 into overtime to give visiting Boston a 5-4 victory over Montreal last night, tying the first-round series 2-2. Ryder, the former Canadiens winger who also scored in the second period, took Chris Kelly's pass from behind the net and shot past...

MONTREAL - One month ago today, Brian Boucher sat in the tunnel at the Bell Centre - where all the visiting backup goaltenders sit - physically as far away from his teammates as possible. He was watching rookie Sergei Bobrovsky reel off 12 straight starts for the Flyers. To pass time during the game, Boucher said he would politely make small talk with two older French-speaking ladies who were curious about hockey. Last night, Boucher was back in the Bell Centre. Physically, as he watched Bobrovsky start against the Canadiens again, Boucher was in the same seat.

MONTREAL - Situations, Peter Laviolette said, are what separate the good from the bad in today's NHL. Last night, by all accounts, was a situation. And if the Flyers didn't assert themselves among the league's elite by extinguishing Sidney Crosby and the Penguins' 12-game winning streak on Tuesday night, they surely did so last night by overcoming a myriad of maligned happenstance at the Bell Centre. In the 24 hours after topping Pittsburgh to jump into first place overall, the Flyers flew to Montreal to face the Northeast Division-leading Canadiens, who spent 3 days prepping for them, and blew a two-goal lead in the third period while skating with just five defensemen after losing Chris Pronger to injury.

MONTREAL - You could excuse Tuesday's opposing goalies - the Flyers' Sergei Bobrovsky and Montreal's Carey Price - if they were a little fatigued. Bobrovsky, after all, was starting his 11th consecutive game, and Price was starting for the 17th time in the Canadiens' 18 games. But neither goalie played as if he were tired. Bobrovsky could only be faulted for one goal, and Price was downright sensational. Price made 41 saves - 33 in the first two periods - and Brian Gionta collected three points as the Canadiens defeated the Flyers, 3-0, in front of a roaring sellout crowd at the Bell Centre.

Who: Flyers (12-4-2) at Montreal Canadiens (11-5-1) When: 7 o'clock Where: Bell Centre TV: Versus Radio: WIP (610-AM)

CHICAGO - Whatever Peter Laviolette tried to achieve by guarding the identity of his Game 2 goalie Sunday afternoon, the reality was obvious to anyone paying attention. It had to be Michael Leighton. Period. That doesn't mean the Flyers can't win the Stanley Cup without Leighton, who was rightly taken out of Game 1. And it doesn't mean we won't see Brian Boucher again before the Finals are over. All it means is that Leighton is the choice that makes the most sense right now. Going with Boucher would be an overreaction, if not an act of outright panic.