Philadelphia's Michael Leighton stopped 17 shots against Montreal in Game 4.
Philadelphia's Michael Leighton stopped 17 shots against Montreal in Game 4.

Flyers in safe hands



Michael Leighton added another shutout to his resume on Saturday night, but he did not want to talk about it. Right now, he is focused on a much bigger objective. Leighton and the Philadelphia Flyers are just one victory away from reaching the Stanley Cup finals, a step they can take tonight when they face the Montreal Canadiens at home. They are on the brink of the Eastern Conference title after Leighton's third shutout of the series. In a 3-0 win over the Canadiens. Leighton stopped all 17 shots he faced and helped the Flyers take a 3-1 series lead. Leighton, the journeyman goaltender who was claimed off waivers in December, is 5-1 since taking over after Brian Boucher was hurt in the second round. "I'm not really concerned about shutouts right now, I'm concerned about winning," Leighton said. "That's not really on my mind. If we would've won 5-1, I would have been just as happy." The smiles were back on the Flyers' faces as they bounced back from a 5-1 loss in Montreal in Game 3. They delivered on a vow to channel their frustrations and disappointment into one of their most dominant defensive outings of the play-offs. "I can tell you that we didn't play a very good game last game, and it was a kick in the teeth," Peter Laviolette, the Flyers coach, said. "Our guys responded with a better effort." Laviolette's understated response did not reflect how dominating the Flyers were, particularly in the second period when they out-shot the Canadiens 13-1. Philadelphia grabbed the lead when Claude Giroux and Ville Leino scored on breakaway goals nine minutes apart. Giroux then sealed the win with an empty-netter. "We've been a team that's been able to recover from tough defeats like that all season long," Chris Pronger, the defenceman, said. "A quick look in the mirror and understand what you need to do, and we were all able to rally together and play well as a team." Now the question is whether the eighth-seeded Canadiens can engineer another comeback from a 3-1 series deficit to get to the finals for the first time since 1993. Montreal dug out of such a hole in the first round and knocked out Presidents' Trophy-winning Washington. "Confident? I mean, it's a familiar feeling for us," said Michael Cammalleri, the leading scorer. "We seem to play our best hockey in this situation. Here we go again." They will have to play much better because the Flyers beat them in most puck battles and flustered Montreal. That prevented the Canadiens from generating many rushes through the neutral zone. "We just didn't execute. We got impatient and got away from doing that," Brian Gionta, a forward, said. "I think the second period is where we got away from our game. We tried pressing a little too hard and that's when you get away from your game plan." * AP

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THE SPECS

Engine: 1.5-litre turbocharged four-cylinder

Transmission: Constant Variable (CVT)

Power: 141bhp 

Torque: 250Nm 

Price: Dh64,500

On sale: Now

Name: Peter Dicce

Title: Assistant dean of students and director of athletics

Favourite sport: soccer

Favourite team: Bayern Munich

Favourite player: Franz Beckenbauer

Favourite activity in Abu Dhabi: scuba diving in the Northern Emirates 

 

Asia Cup Qualifier

Venue: Kuala Lumpur

Result: Winners play at Asia Cup in Dubai and Abu Dhabi in September

Fixtures:

Wed Aug 29: Malaysia v Hong Kong, Nepal v Oman, UAE v Singapore

Thu Aug 30: UAE v Nepal, Hong Kong v Singapore, Malaysia v Oman

Sat Sep 1: UAE v Hong Kong, Oman v Singapore, Malaysia v Nepal

Sun Sep 2: Hong Kong v Oman, Malaysia v UAE, Nepal v Singapore

Tue Sep 4: Malaysia v Singapore, UAE v Oman, Nepal v Hong Kong

Thu Sep 6: Final

 

Asia Cup

Venue: Dubai and Abu Dhabi

Schedule: Sep 15-28

Teams: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, plus the winner of the Qualifier

The specs

AT4 Ultimate, as tested

Engine: 6.2-litre V8

Power: 420hp

Torque: 623Nm

Transmission: 10-speed automatic

Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)

On sale: Now