Hope isn't gone, but Habs will be if they can't solve Biron

Montreal Canadiens coach Guy Carbonneau figures he can still cling to hope. He might as well, since nothing else has worked for Carbonneau's top-seeded team so far.

Besides, Montreal will be facing elimination when it hosts the Philadelphia Flyers in Game 5 of an Eastern Conference semifinal Saturday night, so anything that might help is worth trying.

Flyers goalie Martin Biron is flourishing in his first playoffs in 10 seasons in the NHL. (AP)

The Canadiens came into the series widely favored, but after stealing a win in the first game, they've dropped three in a row and now have to do something that few teams have done.

Essentially, Flyers goalie Martin Biron is killing them and Carbonneau wants to believe something will give.

"As a coach, I've got to be optimistic but I wouldn't be if we were playing bad," Carbonneau said. "We are playing great and I can't sit there with the coaching staff and try to change things or the way we play tactically.

"We have scoring chances and we don't give too much, but Biron is on top of his game right now. Whether he's lucky or good or extremely good, he is making the saves."

A lot of them as a matter of fact.

The Canadiens had the NHL's best offense this season, but it hasn't made an impact in this series because Biron has been more frustrating than hitting a bar just after last call. Biron, making his first playoffs appearance in 10 NHL seasons, has been pummeled with 142 shots through four games, but he has allowed just 10 goals, with four of them coming in Montreal's opening-game overtime win.

"Until you have success at this time of year, you really don't know what your standard is," Flyers coach John Stevens said. "Marty has never been in this situation and now he has a reference point that he can play at a very high level and be the difference in a game."

Funny thing is, Montreal's higher-profile Carey Price was supposed the goalie who made the difference in this series. Instead he has been victimized by weak goals at bad times, which has put his team behind the 8-ball for most of the series.

The 20-year-old rookie was anointed the starter at the trade deadline when the Canadiens sent away veteran Cristobal Huet, and Price played well beyond his years down the stretch as he led the Canadiens to first place in the East. Price had a good start in the first round against Boston before developing some problems as the series progressed. Many were of his own doing -- he had a tendency to overplay pucks and not set up squarely to shooters at times -- but Price rebounded with a shutout in Game 7 against the Bruins and all seemed right again in Montreal.

Then Price looked shaky again at the outset of the Flyers series, and never seemed to recover before he was benched in favor of Montreal's other rookie, Jaroslav Halak, in Game 4.

The goaltending situation has erupted into a major controversy in Montreal because Carbonneau won't named his starter until game time. The only thing Carbonneau would confirm is that Price isn't suffering a hand injury, which has been speculated on for several days because both Boston and Philadelphia found much of their success around his left hand.

"Carey Price is not hurt," Carbonneau said. "He does not have a finger injury, hand injury, knee injury or a sore shoulder. His confidence was hurt."

The Canadiens have had 2-0 deficits in three of the games, and were down 3-0 in the other, but with all their firepower, they found ways to climb back. Still they won only once and that was because of a lucky break.

Now they have to find a way to come back against a Flyers team that has played smart, if unspectacular playoff hockey, and has made the most of its limited opportunities. Philadelphia has done a very good job defensing Montreal by collapsing in its own zone, and it has blocked 83 shots in the series. The Flyers have managed only 96 shots of their own, but they picked up 14 goals in this series, including six from R.J. Umberger.

Philadelphia is riding the momentum and the lessons learned from letting the Capitals force them to a seventh game trailing the first round series 3-1.

Carbonneau believes if the Canadiens can stretch this series to seven games, it will give his team an edge because it will require playing three times in four days.

"We have speed and we've been tenacious in their zone, they're just getting tired," Carbonneau said. "We've had two days to recharge, so I think playing three games in four nights will help us."

He can hope.