Mike Brophy

Veteran hockey columnist Mike Brophy writes Mondays, Wednesdays and Friday on Sportsnet.ca and appears regularly on Hockeycentral.

Mike Cammalleri has struggled to find space with the big, physical defence of the Flyers watching his every move.

Goals, physical play and energy players have all abandoned Montreal in its series against Philly.

One day after finding out its best player will be sidelined for six months, the Montreal Canadiens face the unenviable task of trying to dig out of a giant hole against the Philadelphia Flyers.

Furthermore, the Canadiens have been unable to penetrate Philadelphia's large and physical defence, which has allowed journeyman goaltender Michael Leighton to record back-to-back shutouts.

The good news is Game 3 will be played in Montreal where you can just bet a rabid crowd of 21,000-plus will attempt to serenade the Habs to victory.

As biting as the loss of Markov is, the Canadiens cannot afford to dwell on his situation. Granted he is the team's best player, but Montreal has had to survive without him in the lineup for most of the season, so the Canadiens really can't use his injury as a crutch. For the time being, this has become Michael Cammalleri's team. The same player who scored a whopping 12 goals in the first two rounds of the playoffs against the Washington Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins must find the mark against Philadelphia.

It won't be easy.

Cammalleri was limited to just one shot on goal in the series opener, a 6-0 shellacking, but battled back with four shots in Montreal's 3-0 loss in Game 2. He had some decent scoring chances early, but wasn't able to cash in. That doesn't mean Cammalleri won't score; in fact, I'm betting he'll produce a big Game 3 performance to the delight of the enthusiastic home audience.

The 27-year-old left winger has become the face of the team in the playoffs and seemed genuinely confident when he told the media after Game 2 it's time to go home and start playing some winning hockey again.

If that is to happen, the Canadiens are going to have to display a heck of a lot more courage than they did playing in the City of Brotherly Love. The Habs looked downright scared at times in the first two games. As tough as the Flyers are, the rules the NHL enforces in the modern game does not allow them to come close to being the physically intimidating team the Broadstreet Bullies were in the '70s. There is really no need for the Canadiens to run and hide. If they use team speed as they did in the first two series, it could put the Flyers back on its heels.

As much as a lack of scoring has crushed Montreal's chances in this series, so to has the disappearance of energy players such as Maxim Lapierre, Travis Moen and, to a slightly lesser degree, Dominic Moore. You will never run the Flyers out of the rink, but you must at least let them know they are in a game. Montreal was out-hit by Philadelphia 54-41 through the first two games; they must at least be on par in Game 3 to stand a chance of winning.

It would also help if the Habs power play can come to life. Thus far, Montreal has been skunked on eight power play opportunities; four in each contest. Not having Markov hurts the cause, to be sure, but the Canadiens have enough fire power left to put a dent in Philadelphia's penalty kill. It will be interesting to see if rookie PK Subban can shake of a nervous performance and get his swagger back.

There has been talk in some quarters that Carey Price should come in to play goal for the Canadiens which is ludicrous. Jaroslav Halak has been mostly spectacular in the post-season for the Canadiens and deserves to the opportunity to finish what he has started. To put Price in now would smack of desperation. Though he may one day be a fine starting goalie in the NHL, Price has not shown the mental makeup it takes to be a consistent winner at this level, especially at this time of year. It would be unfair to him, and to Halak, to make a goaltending switch at this juncture.

The Flyers are sitting comfortable in the driver's seat at this point, but as we saw in Philadelphia's last series against the Boston Bruins, things can turn around in a hurry. Boston built a 3-0 lead only to have the Flyers become the third team in NHL history to come back and win. The difference is, Philadelphia was in the first three games of the series despite losing. The Canadiens have been a mere shadow of the club that sent the President's Trophy winners and defending Stanley Cup champions home early. If they fall behind 3-0 in this series, there will be no miracle comeback.

A loss Thursday kills their chances completely.