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.

The Habs started the game strong but a pair of power play goals allowed in the second put them behind again. However, this time they were able to regain the lead and held on for a 5-3 victory to send the series to a sixth game on Friday.

Tuesday afternoon was a game where the Habs looked like the 24th place team. They couldn’t adjust to a team that shut things down and the result was a second consecutive shutout that gives the Flyers the chance to end the series in only 24 hours.

Puck luck proved costly for the Habs in the opening game of the series and they didn’t get any of it in Game 3 either as they fell 1-0 to the Flyers on Sunday night.

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.

The Habs showed up for their coach as they dominated the Flyers for an entire 60 minutes in Game 2. They picked up five goals along the way while Carey Price recorded the shutout to even up the series at a game apiece.

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.

Fresh off their exciting victory over the Penguins, the Habs kicked off the official playoffs against Philadelphia on Wednesday night. They played a good game, but the puck would not bounce their way as Philadelphia took the game 2-1.

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.