Flyers keep Montreal scoreless

Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA

Michael Leighton is for real — and he has all those zeros to prove it.

Leighton stopped 30 shots and recorded his second straight shutout, and the Philadelphia Flyers beat the Montreal Canadiens 3-0 on Tuesday night to take a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference finals.

“We’re in a great situation,” Leighton said. “I’m not trying to think so much.”

His season was considered over once he went down with an ankle injury in mid-March. Now, Leighton has the Flyers two wins away from their first Stanley Cup finals appearance since 1997.

Leighton is the first Flyers goalie to record consecutive playoff shutouts since Bernie Parent in 1975. His shutout streak of 165:50 is the second-longest in team history behind Brian Boucher’s 184:45 in its run to the East finals in 2000.

Danny Briere and Simon Gagne scored power-play goals, and Ville Leino also scored for the Flyers.

“We all feel like we haven’t played our best games yet,” Briere said. “We still have more in the tank.”

The Flyers have won six straight postseason games and look to keep it going in Game 3 on Thursday.