Stanley Cup Playoffs : Canadiens Take 2-1 Lead by Defeating Flyers, 5-1

Shayne Corson and Bob Gainey scored less than three minutes apart early in the second period as the Montreal Canadiens took a 2-1 lead in the Wales Conference finals Friday night with a 5-1 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers.

Game 4 will be played here Sunday night.

With the Canadiens leading, 1-0, on Guy Carbonneau’s goal late in the first period, Corson was left alone during a power play and steered Eric Desjardins’ centering pass into an empty net at 3:14.

Gainey, the Canadiens’ captain, scored his first goal of the playoffs at 6:11, breaking behind the defense and flipping Chris Chelios’ pass from the right boards over goaltender Ken Wregget for a 3-0 lead.

Russ Courtnall made it 4-0 at 14:53 when he took a lead pass from Ryan Walter at the Flyers’ blue line and beat Wregget to the short side from the top of the right circle.

Walter also set up the game’s first goal, stealing the puck from Scott Mellanby near the blue line and poking it to Carbonneau, who beat Wregget with a 15-foot backhander from the slot at 14:26 on the Canadiens’ second shot of the game.

“We have a tremendous hill to climb,” said Flyer Coach Paul Holmgren. “The Canadiens are on their game, playing like they did in the regular season.”

Montreal Coach Pat Burns said: “We knew their fans would have them fired up. We were prepared for it. They had lots of shots, but how many were scoring?”

Patrick Roy, who blanked the Flyers in Game 2, lost his bid for a second straight shutout at 6:56 of the final period on a goal by Brian Propp, who returned after suffering a concussion when he was elbowed into the boards by Chelios in Game 1. The goal was Propp’s 13th of the playoffs.

Roy, 9-1 in the playoffs, broke a nine-game career winless streak against Philadelphia Wednesday night. This time, he was especially strong in the opening minutes of the game, when he made several key saves, and at the start of the second period, when he stopped Tim Kerr and Propp. Roy finished with 25 saves.

Montreal, which broke a six-game winless streak at the Spectrum with a 7-4 victory in its last regular-season visit Feb. 16, ended any thoughts of a Philadelphia comeback when Bobby Smith beat Wregget with a 20-foot slap shot on a two-on-one at 12:21.