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Biron, second-period surge help Flyers edge Canadiens

Nov 16, 2008 - 4:38 AM MONTREAL (Ticker) -- Martin Biron returned home and silenced the raucous crowd at the Bell Centre.

The Quebec native turned aside 24 shots and Scottie Upshall and Jeff Carter scored in the second period as the Philadelphia Flyers recorded a 2-1 triumph over the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday.

The Montreal faithful derisively chanted Biron's name in an attempt to rattle him, but to no avail.

"That's all my family that's out there," joked Biron, who is from Lac St. Charles - approximately three hours away from Montreal.

"If you saw the list, I think there's 550 people waiting out in the garage, that's what it was out there. I can remember going to games in Quebec City and yelling (Canadiens Hall of Fame goaltender) Patrick Roy's name when I was a kid, or whatever goalie was playing. Then the game starts and now they're chanting my name - for me, it's a form of respect. I'm very flattered by the fans here that they find I should be a target to try and get off of my game."

Flyers coach John Stevens credited his netminder after the game.

"He handles the puck well and plays with confidence, and that allows the team to play with confidence," Stevens said.

Alex Tanguay tallied and Jaroslav Halak made 29 saves for the Canadiens, who fell to 1-3-1 in their last five games.

"We knew they were going to come out hard tonight after their (6-1 loss on Thursday to) Boston, so to take five of six (points) on the road shows a great effort by the team," Stevens said.

Montreal, which posted a 5-3 victory over Philadelphia on October 13, saw its seven-game regular-season unbeaten streak against the Flyers come to an end. In the postseason, however, it was a different story as Philadelphia unceremoniously bounced Montreal in five games in Eastern Conference semifinals last season.

"I think last year in the playoffs, it was fun, and all those memories come back," Biron said. "But now in the regular season, it's about winning games and getting back into the style of play we want to play."

After going 0-for-4 on the power play, the Canadiens are 2-for-26 with the man advantage in their last five home games.

"I thought we had some great chances over the first two periods and we had a really great chance at the end, but we just kept turning the puck over at the blue line," Montreal coach Guy Carbonneau said of the ailing power play.

"(Our attack) worked for almost 37 minutes, take away the second period. Every time we got the puck deep, we had chances. They'd make mistakes and we'd have great chances. It should be the same thing on the power play, I don't see any reason. We have an advantage and we didn't use it."

Upshall opened the scoring 5:30 into the second period.

Mike Richards chased down a loose puck along the left wing boards and waited for Upshall to skate through the slot. The captain alertly wristed a shot that Upshall deflected past Halak despite being covered by defenseman Francis Bouillon.

The tally was Upshall's second of the season and first in 10 games.

Carter doubled the advantage with 4:24 remaining in the second period. After receiving a pass from Simon Gagne, he fired the puck just under the crossbar for his 11th goal of the season and second in as many games.

"(Consistency) has been a problem from early on in the season. We've won some games, but there's been some times we've rarely played 60 minutes," Canadiens captain Saku Koivu said.

"We have to make a defensive effort and not make big mistakes in our own zone. Our skills haven't gone anywhere, we know that, and we have to believe we can create the offense. But now, I think we have to forget that part of the game and get back to team defense and making sure that the puck gets out of our zone. When that happens, then we can start thinking about other things."

Tanguay halved the deficit just 9:44 into the third period.

After Bouillon wristed the puck around the end boards, Koivu gained possession and alertly backhanded it to Tanguay, who slipped it past Biron for his eighth goal.

Unfortunately for the Canadiens, that was all they could muster against Biron.

"They were trying to find a way to get back into it at the end, but our penalty-killing was strong, and obviously our goaltender, Marty Biron, stood on his head tonight," Philadelphia's Scott Hartnell said. "We played well and earned the two points."