Florida is casting a wide net in its search for a new general manager and another Montreal executive has been targeted as Sean Burke has interviewed for the vacancy.

While Thursday is an off day in Montreal’s series against Philadelphia, there has been some news from off the ice that will have an impact on Friday’s Game Six as the Habs will be without one of their top wingers and the Flyers will be missing a defenceman.

With the Habs off on Saturdays this round and playing on Sundays (thanks to NBC), our weekly recap column moves up a day as we look back at the first two games of the series against the Flyers as well as the short-term change behind the bench.

Following Wednesday’s series opener against Philadelphia, Habs head coach Claude Julien was taken to hospital after experiencing chest pains overnight.  He is not expected to return for the remainder of this series.

Scott Mellanby’s name has come up in several GM searches in recent years and that trend will continue as the Habs have permitted him to speak with Florida about their vacancy.

The Penguins narrowly missed out on a top-four seed in the East that would have avoided the Qualifying Round altogether while the Habs had sold several veterans around the trade deadline, knowing they weren’t playoff-bound. Now, Montreal is indeed officially heading for the postseason while Pittsburgh’s season is over. Here’s a look back at the series.

In the grand scheme of things, a fourth line winger isn’t going to make much of an impact in a series. Even knowing that, it’s time for Claude Julien to see what everyone else has known for quite some time now and pull Dale Weise out of the lineup.

Scoring goals has been a challenge for the Habs in recent years and this one was no exception. They only managed to be tied for 18th in the league in goals which isn’t much cause for optimism heading into their series against Pittsburgh. Nevertheless, there are a few things to watch for offensively from Montreal.

The Habs have made their final two cuts to finalize their roster for the upcoming series against Pittsburgh and any playoff games after that.