Montreal Canadiens

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

Ed Barkowitz EASTERN CONFERENCE: EASTERN CONFERENCE: Montreal Canadiens vs. Flyers - Flyers in 7. Pittsburgh Penguins vs. New York Rangers - Penguins in 6. WESTERN CONFERENCE: Colorado Avalanche vs. Detroit Red Wings - Red Wings in 7. Dallas Stars vs. San Jose Sharks - Sharks in 5.   Sam Donnellon EASTERN CONFERENCE: EASTERN CONFERENCE: Montreal Canadiens vs. Flyers - Flyers in 7. ...

The Flyers could become the first team since Pittsburgh in 1991-92 to consecutively beat three of the NHL's Original Six teams in the playoffs on the way to a Stanley Cup championship. The Penguins defeated the New York Rangers in the second round, the Boston Bruins in the conference finals and the Chicago Blackhawks in the Stanley Cup finals. The current Flyers defeated the Bruins in the second round and the Montreal Canadiens in the Eastern Conference finals. Gearing up The Flyers are adding temporary Fan Gear stores to support the demand for team and Stanley Cup merchandise.

Hockey stars spanning generations came together to honor Montreal Canadiens great Maurice "Rocket" Richard yesterday. "Maurice Richard was an intense man, passionate, true to his values and convictions," Jean-Claude Cardinal Turcotte, archbishop of Montreal, told mourners in Notre-Dame Basilica. "His passing was felt by people across the country. It was like losing a friend. " Montreal Canadiens teammates Jean Beliveau, Dickie Moore and Dollard St. Laurent were among the former NHL players at the service to grieve for the hockey great who died of abdominal cancer Saturday at 78. Joining them in the ornate basilica were Gordie Howe, Detroit coach Scotty Bowman, Los Angeles forward Luc Robitaille and NHL commissioner Gary Bettman.

Zach Parise, David Clarkson and Matt Taormina scored and Martin Brodeur made 21 saves to help the streaking New Jersey Devils beat the host Montreal Canadiens, 3-1, on Sunday night. The Devils improved to 34-20-4 with their third straight victory and jumped past Atlantic Division rivals Pittsburgh and the Flyers into fourth in the Eastern Conference. Max Pacioretty scored for Montreal. The Canadiens have lost eight straight against New Jersey at the Bell Centre. The Canadiens last beat the Devils in Montreal on March 11, 2008.

HALLOWEEN CAME either very early or very late to Philadelphia last night. A tsunami of orange and black swept across the city at exactly 9:35 p.m., as the horn sounded at a raucous Wachovia Center to seal the Flyers' 4-2 win over the Montreal Canadiens, and their first trip to the Stanley Cup finals in 13 years. They'll play the Chicago Blackhawks. On a seasonably warm spring night far removed from hockey's frozen-pond origins, the orange crush descended on Frankford and Cottman avenues in the Northeast, outside the sports complex in South Philly, and all party points in between.

What good would it do the Tampa Bay Lightning to beat the Flyers? They can't win the Stanley Cup because they've come under the (cue the spooky music) Hex of the Habs, a phenomenon discovered by David Bontempo. Bontempo, 62, a retired social worker from West Springfield, Mass., has noticed a peculiarity about the NHL playoffs over the years: Since the league expanded in 1968-69, 19 teams have beaten the Montreal Canadiens in a playoff round before the finals, and none of those teams has gone on to win a Stanley Cup. The Lightning swept Montreal in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

After the Flyers' stirring victories last week in the Stanley Cup finals, they definitely can't be counted out as they take the ice for the championship tonight in Edmonton, Alberta, against the favored Oilers. What the Flyers did in winning games five and six can best be described as a gutty performance, but the truth is that it was characteristic of their solid play all season. Nevertheless, the Flyers entered the playoff rounds under the gun. It's a young team with a rookie goaltender, Ron Hextall, and three key starters - Dave Poulin, Tim Kerr and Ron Sutter - were injured.

Veteran NHL defenseman Kevin Lowe applied for the vacant Montreal Canadiens coaching job, the Montreal Gazette reported. An 18-year NHL veteran, Lowe was a member of five Stanley Cup-winning teams with the Edmonton Oilers from 1984 to 1990 and won a sixth Stanley Cup with the New York Rangers in 1994. The 38-year-old recently played out a one-year contract with the Oilers. Canadiens spokesman Dominick Saillant said he didn't know if Lowe had contacted general manager Rejean Houle, who has already interviewed former Quebec Nordiques coach Michel Bergeron.

Marian Gaborik scored his 30th goal of the season and Brandon Prust netted the game-winner Thursday night in the Eastern Conference-leading New York Rangers' 3-2 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes in Raleigh, N.C. Gaborik reached the 30-goal mark for the seventh time in his NHL career. He gave the Rangers a 2-1 lead with 5 minutes, 7 seconds remaining in the second period when he poked the puck in at the left post after it sailed high and landed in the crease. New York won its third straight despite playing without captain Ryan Callahan, who missed his first game of the season because of a bruised right foot.

Filip Kuba scored 3 minutes, 7 seconds into overtime Friday night as the host Ottawa Senators moved into first place in the Northeast Division with a 2-1 victory over the Montreal Canadiens. After taking a pass from Daniel Alfredsson, Kuba beat Carey Price with a slap shot from the top of the left faceoff circle. Erik Karlsson assisted on Kuba's winner, giving him four points in his last three games and 71 points in 71 games on the season. Kuba scored on Ottawa's 33d shot as the Senators passed idle Boston for first place in the Northeast, although the Bruins have two games in hand.

Marian Gaborik scored his 30th goal of the season and Brandon Prust netted the game-winner Thursday night in the Eastern Conference-leading New York Rangers' 3-2 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes in Raleigh, N.C. Gaborik reached the 30-goal mark for the seventh time in his NHL career. He gave the Rangers a 2-1 lead with 5 minutes, 7 seconds remaining in the second period when he poked the puck in at the left post after it sailed high and landed in the crease. New York won its third straight despite playing without captain Ryan Callahan, who missed his first game of the season because of a bruised right foot.

Zach Parise, David Clarkson and Matt Taormina scored and Martin Brodeur made 21 saves to help the streaking New Jersey Devils beat the host Montreal Canadiens, 3-1, on Sunday night. The Devils improved to 34-20-4 with their third straight victory and jumped past Atlantic Division rivals Pittsburgh and the Flyers into fourth in the Eastern Conference. Max Pacioretty scored for Montreal. The Canadiens have lost eight straight against New Jersey at the Bell Centre. The Canadiens last beat the Devils in Montreal on March 11, 2008.

MONTREAL Canadiens forward Scott Gomez and an assistant coach got into a shouting match at practice yesterday. Assistant Randy Ladouceur apparently was upset at what he considered a lack of intensity during a drill. Gomez is among the league's highest-paid players, but has scored only one goal for the struggling Canadiens. The spat continued for several minutes, first in front of other players before the two left to exchange more words elsewhere. Gomez was asked if he had lost the will to play.

DAVID DESHARNAIS had two goals and an assist, and the Montreal Canadiens ended visiting Detroit's seven-game winning streak with a 7-2 victory over the Red Wings last night. Alexei Emelin scored his first NHL goal, and Montreal scored four times in the opening period against goalie Jimmy Howard, who will make his first NHL All-Star Game appearance on Sunday in Ottawa. The Canadiens then put their first two shots of the second period past backup goalie Ty Conklin, who took over for Howard to begin the period.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Boston Bruins right winger Mark Recchi completed his 22-season NHL career Wednesday night on top, retiring after winning his third Stanley Cup as close to home as he could be. "I started in British Columbia, and to end it here I couldn't ask for anything more," said Recchi, a former Flyer who was born and reared in Kamloops and was the oldest active player in the league at 43. Recchi had five goals and nine...

VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Marian Hossa wasn't sure if the Chicago Blackhawks had gotten back in Vancouver goalie Roberto Luongo's head. But they are back in their series with the Canucks. Defenseman Duncan Keith had two goals and two assists and the Blackhawks stayed alive in their Stanley Cup title defense, routing Vancouver by 5-0 late Thursday night to cut the Canucks' lead to three games to two. Hossa, with his first two goals of the series, chased Luongo early in the second period as the Blackhawks have bounced back impressively after losing the first three games of the series.

MONTREAL - David Krejci and Nathan Horton scored first-period goals to lead Boston to a 4-2 win over the Montreal Canadiens on Monday night as the Bruins won on the road after dropping the first two games of their first-round series at home. Tim Thomas stopped 34 shots for Boston and Rich Peverley scored in the second. Chris Kelly scored into an empty net with 25.6 seconds remaining. Bruins captain Zdeno Chara returned to the lineup after missing Saturday night's 3-2 loss to Montreal after he was hospitalized overnight for dehydration.

OF COURSE, the Flyers should do whatever they can to win the Presidents' Trophy. Not because it's the most prestigious regular-season team award in the NHL. Not because the winning team gets a $350,000 bonus for the players to split, although something like that never hurts. Not because it's a trophy the Flyers have never won. Not even because doing so would clinch home ice for the Flyers for as long as they are in the Stanley Cup playoffs. The Flyers should do whatever they can to win the trophy awarded to the team with the most regular-season points because doing so would be a natural extension of what they've already done during the first half of the season.

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