Flyers beat Canadiens, advance to Eastern Conference finals

MONTREAL (Reuters) - The Philadelphia Flyers beat the Montreal Canadiens 6-4 on Saturday to win their series and advance to the Eastern Conference finals.

Philadelphia center R.J. Umberger scored twice to bring his tally to nine for the playoffs as the Flyers eliminated the 24-times Stanley Cup champions 4-1 in the best-of-seven series.

"It's pretty rewarding for us to see our players be that excited, to see everyone in our organization moving on against a team like Montreal," Philadelphia coach John Stevens told reporters after the game.

Goaltending was again a key factor.

Philadelphia's Martin Biron maintained the stellar form he has shown throughout the series while Montreal fans had hoped they would get more from the 20-year-old Carey Price.

Biron said the Flyers had shown heart, especially when trailing by two goals early in the second period.

"I knew that something could happen and we could make it tonight," Biron said.

Philadelphia center Daniel Briere said he savored closing out the series in Montreal.

"I grew up a Montreal Canadiens fan, so it's even sweeter," Briere said. "I thought we played better as the series moved along. We got more and more comfortable."

Montreal opened the scoring, for the first time in the series, when Tomas Plekanec tipped in a shot from defenseman Patrice Brisebois at 4:29 of the first period on a powerplay.

FLURRY

Umberger tied the score at 10:20, swooping around a Habs defender to fire at Price and knocking in his own rebound while falling to the ice.

The Canadiens went 2-1 up after Maxim Lapierre's wrap-around shot went in off Alex Kovalev's skate a minute later, and Chris Higgins stretched that lead at 8:15 of the second period, beating Biron with a long wrist shot.

But the Flyers stunned Montreal with a three-goal flurry in just under three minutes later in the period.

An Umberger shot was tipped in off team mate Mike Richards' glove at 14:02, before Umberger scored his second goal of the night and Scott Hartnell put the Flyers 4-3 ahead.

Andrei Kostitsyn tied the game at 2:13 of the third period, beating Biron with a high shot on the glove side, but Philadelphia's Scottie Upshall tipped in a long wrist shot by Jeff Carter at 16:56 to put the Flyers back on top.

Mike Knuble added an empty-net goal with just 50 seconds left to seal the victory.

As the final seconds wound down, the Canadiens' fans began cheering their team despite the loss. The Habs returned the gesture afterwards, raising their sticks in a salute to the fans who filled the stadium all season long.

"This was probably the worst game that we played defensively," said Canadiens coach Guy Carbonneau.

A downcast Montreal captain Saku Koivu said he did not offer his team mates any special words of consolation in the dressing room after the game.

"I just felt extremely empty when I sat in the room here," Koivu said. "When you lose, you lose."

(Editing by Peter Rutherford)