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MONTREAL — Guy Carbonneau was six years old in 1966 when the Monkees recorded I'm a Believer.
The song must have stuck with him well into adulthood because the Montreal Canadiens' coach refused to retreat yesterday from his eyebrow-raising statement that he liked his team's chances to rally after its third loss in a row to the Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday to fall behind 3-1 in the second-round series.
"As a coach, you have to be optimistic," Carbonneau said. "I'm not crazy. I don't think we're playing bad. We just have to keep going.
"I like our chances because we have been playing well. Can we play better? Yes. I don't know if you can remember the last round against Boston [Bruins]. We had a 3-1 series lead and they took us to a Game 7."
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Carbonneau gave his players the day off yesterday to cleanse their minds of the daunting task that stands before them. The coach, a three-time Stanley Cup winner as a player, also stayed away from his office. He enjoyed a relaxing round of golf and reported he made a couple of birdies.
The coaching staff and players will reconvene at their downtown hotel today and return to work in preparation for game five at the Bell Centre tomorrow.
Much has been made about the advantage in play the Canadiens have had over their opponent in this series. They have carried the play, but the Flyers have capitalized on their opportunities, while the Canadiens have not.
Montreal has outshot the Flyers in the four games by a combined 142-96, and Philadelphia defenders have blocked 83 more shots. But the Canadiens have beaten Flyers goaltender Martin Biron only six times in the past three games.
The bigger problem has been that, in each of the four games in the series, the Flyers have been able to fashion leads of 2-0, 2-0, 3-0 and 2-0. It's almost got to the point where either Canadiens goalie, Carey Price or Jaroslav Halak, has to record a shutout in order to pull Montreal out of its doldrums.
Carbonneau wasn't prepared to name his starting goaltender for the fifth game because he hasn't discussed the situation with his coaching staff or the goalies. Halak started his first playoff game in the 4-2 loss on Wednesday as speculation continued to mount that Price has been troubled by a hand injury.
"Carey Price is not hurt," Carbonneau said. "He does not have a finger injury, hand injury, knee injury or a sore shoulder. His confidence was hurt."
At the other end of the rink, Flyers goalie Martin Biron has been wonderful. But after Philadelphia also allowed a 3-1 first-round series lead over the Washington Capitals extend to a seventh and deciding game, the native of Lac-Saint-Charles, Que., isn't about to count his opponents out.
"In the NHL, any team on any night can beat anybody, and the fact is that when you play a team that is desperate, that doesn't see any other option but winning, that gives them an edge and being on the other side you have to get that same edge in your game," Biron said. "That fourth win is the toughest in the whole season and postseason."
Carbonneau was open to lineup changes for the fifth game, but didn't want to commit to any until he examined possibilities with assistant coaches Kirk Muller and Doug Jarvis.
Flyers centre Daniel Brière, who is one victory away from advancing to a third consecutive Eastern Conference final, expects the Canadiens to put forth their best effort of the series, but took exception to the belief that Montreal has outplayed the Flyers.
"People are just looking at the shots, but it is more than that," he said. "You don't win the game with shots, you win the game with goals. We owe a lot to [Biron], but I think we all deserve a little credit for the way that we are playing and the fact that we are up 3-1.
"We also know that the last win will be the toughest yet, and I'm expecting Montreal to play with a lot more urgency - a little bit like Washington did to us in Games 5, 6 and 7."
