April 15th, 2004
The best of 7 series moves to Rogers Place in down-town Edmonton where the Habs will attempt to take a strangle hold on the series and go up 3-0. There are no changes to the Canadiens line-up with G
Bill Wolfenbarger getting his 7th start of the playoffs. The Oilers made some subtle changes to the lines but kept their #1 unit in tact.
The Oilers waste no time getting the lead on the PP, RD
Loren McMullin beats G
Wolfenbarger with his 1st of the playoffs at 1:35. Montreal gets that back quickly at even strength when RD
Rinat Sadriyev pounces on a rebound for his 1st of the playoffs at 3:14. LW
Eric Brenner and RW
Petr Klusacek will get assists. The first period ends in a 1-1 tie with the shots in favour of the Oilers 12-6.
Montreal grab a 2-1 lead at 3:06 of the second period when LD
Anthony Reynolds deposits a rebound off a RW
Joey Mariani shot. LW
Emile Boudreau collects the second assist. Montreal continues to roll in the period, LW
Randolph Lott redirects C
Patrick Atkins shot at 4:58 for his 2nd of the playoffs. It was a dominant period by Montreal as they lead 3-1 and outshot the Oilers 15-4 and now lead 21-16 on the shot clock.
Montreal extend the lead to 4-1 at 2:39 when C
Dean Casey's shot from a bad angle beats G
Jeremy Belanger. RW
Joey Mariani gets an assist on
Casey's 5th goal of the playoffs. That's all the Canadiens would need as the take a 3-0 lead in the series out shooting the Oilers 34-22 tonight.
Montreal 4 Edmonton 1
Montreal leads series 3-0.
Montreal RW
Joey Mariani was the 1st star with his 2 assists. The 21 year old has 2 goals and 6 points with 0 PIMs and a +9 rating in 7 playoff games this year. Mariani had 18 goals and 51 points during the 2002-03 season in 72 games for Montreal.
Nashville Predators LD
Sergey Adaikin had 3 assists in a 5-1 win over the Rangers. The 30 year old has 2 goals and 9 points with 0 PIMS and a +2 rating in 9 playoff games this season. For his career, Adaikin has 33 goals and 138 points in 268 NHL games.
The Rangers lead the series 2-1.