Montreal closes gap with 5-1 win

MONTREAL // Michael Cammalleri and the rest of the Montreal Canadiens proved that Flyers goalkeeper Michael Leighton is not invincible. And the Canadiens are suddenly riding much higher following a convincing 5-1 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals on Thursday.

Aside from cutting Philadelphia's lead to 2-1 in a best-of-seven series that resumes todayin Montreal, the Canadiens finally snapped Leighton's shutout streak at 172:05. Leighton had stopped all 58 Montreal shots in the first two games. And it was Cammalleri, with his team-leading 13th goal, who opening the scoring 7:05 in, sparking a joyous celebration with his teammates in the corner, and a raucous eruption from the home crowd.

Teammate Scott Gomez was relieved. "Hey, we've got to get one by him, whether you like it or not, that's the only way we're going to win," Gomez said. Referring to Cammalleri's goal, he added: "That kind of loosened everyone up. Let's not kid ourselves." Jaroslav Halak made 25 saves in the win, bouncing back after he had allowed seven goals on 37 shots in the first two games. His shutout bid was foiled midway through the third period when Simon Gagne scored on a spin-around move from the slot.

Tom Pyatt and Dominic Moore had a goal and assist each, while Brian Gionta and Marc-Andre Bergeron also scored as the Canadiens rediscovered their slumbering offence by showing a recommitment to creating traffic in front of the Flyers net. The Canadiens are proving to be very resilient this post-season. Montreal already has rallied to eliminate top-seeded Washington and Pittsburgh. The Flyers also know something about bouncing back, after rallying from a 3-0 series deficit to beat Boston in the second round.

Referring to the loss to the Canadiens as "a wake-up call," Flyers defenceman Chris Pronger said it's their turn to respond. "They answered the bell, and now it's our turn to get back at it in Game 4." The Flyers had won six straight. For Leighton, it marked his first loss in five starts since taking over from an injured Brian Boucher. The five goals allowed were one more than Leighton had given up over the entire post-season.

"I felt OK. I'm not going to dwell on them scoring that many goals," he said. "We didn't think we were going to win this series 4-0 so we're just going to regroup. They're back in the series and the next game's big for us." * AP