Michael Leighton stopped 30 shots and recorded his second straight shutout, and the Flyers beat the Canadiens 3-0 last night in Philadelphia to take a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference finals.
“We’re in a great situation,” Leighton said. “I’m not trying to think so much.”
His season was considered over once he went down with an ankle injury in mid-March. Now, Leighton has the Flyers two wins away from their first Stanley Cup finals appearance since 1997.
Leighton is the first Flyers goalie to record consecutive playoff shutouts since Bernie Parent in 1975. His shutout streak of 165:50 is the second-longest in team history behind Brian Boucher’s 184:45 in their run to the East finals in 2000.
Danny Briere and Simon Gagne scored power-play goals, and Ville Leino also scored for the Flyers.
“We all feel like we haven’t played our best games yet,” Briere said. “We still have more in the tank.”
The Flyers have won six straight postseason games and look to keep it going in Game 3 tomorrow night in Montreal.
Blackhawks 4, Sharks 2
In San Jose, Dustin Byfuglien and Jonathan Toews scored on deflections 90 seconds apart in the second period and Chicago rolled to their record-tying seventh straight road playoff win in Game 2 of the Western Conference final.
Andrew Ladd and Troy Brouwer also scored and Antti Niemi made 25 saves for the Blackhawks, who have a 2-0 series lead. This is the closest Chicago has been to making the Stanley Cup final since getting there in 1992. The series moves to Chicago for Game 3 on Friday night.