Flyers close in on finals

MONTREAL – Michael Leighton shut down and shut out the Montreal Canadiens again, leading the Philadelphia Flyers within one win of the Stanley Cup finals.

Leighton stopped 17 shots for his third blanking of Montreal in four games, Claude Giroux scored twice – including an empty-netter – and Ville Leino added a breakaway goal in a 3-0 win over the Canadiens on Saturday in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals.

Philadelphia, which has won seven of eight since falling behind the Boston Bruins 3-0 in the second round, leads the series 3-1 and can advance to the finals for the first time since 1997 with a win at home in Game 5 on Monday.

The Flyers bounced back from a 5-1 loss on Thursday with an efficient and opportunistic performance. They stifled the Canadiens, as they did at home in the first two games of the series. Montreal was held to only one shot in the second period, a frame in which Philadelphia scored twice.