MONTREAL -- After a brief glimmer of that worst of all emotions - hope - after Game 2, the Montreal Canadiens are facing either a return to the Toronto Maple Leafs' home rink (that will never not be fun to say) or whichever golf course they prefer on the weekend.

NHL playoff hockey in August continues with some lessons hopefully learned as the Habs square off against the Philadelphia Flyers in Game 5.

The Habs coach summed it up in the simplest of terms.

"It's really going to come down to the will to want to win one game at a time, and I think that will come from our players," said interim bench boss Kirk Muller. "They're proud players, and I think they want to win."

There is really only one thing the Habs need to do this game to avoid getting sent home up the 401 to La Belle Province, and it rhymes with your, sore and bore.

MAYBE... I DON'T KNOW... SCORE?

Since recently-turned 20-year-old Hab-let standout Jesperi Kotkaniemi scored his fourth goal at 10:35 in the third period of Game 2, the red light has not shone behind Carter Hart's goal.

It's a glaringly obvious point, but, someone's got to score.

Philly took note of the Habs speed and skill after Game 2's goal-fest and set up their sentinels on the blue line to squeeze the fun out of the Canadiens' offence (and the games?).

"They're a quick team, and if you don't manage the puck well, they're going to come at you real hard," said Philly coach Alain Vigneault after his team bounced back with a resounding (checks notes) 1-0 win? Ugh.

Watching Games 3 and 4, one thought kept recurring: the Habs need to realize they are getting beat a lot worse than the scoreline says.

In the second period of Game 4, the shots on goal stat read 19, but it was hard to remember more than eight of them that were dangerous, as the Philly defenders squeezed the Habs forwards into the corner killing any chance of a scoring chance.

Shoot early, get past those sentinels and, for the love of all hockey fans (Habs, neutrals, Leafs, whatever) please score!

That way, the game may actually open up and be exciting.

EMBRACE POLLOCK, FORGET REMBRANDT

...and about those goals.

Just splash all the paint on the canvas Jackson Pollock-style and hope for a masterpiece.

Goals don't have to be the finely crafty, articulate oil paintings of a Rembrandt to count.

Just ask the Flyers.

Flyers score ugly when they need to

With skilled players like Tomas Tatar, Nick Suzuki and Kotkaniemi, it's completely understandable to want pretty passes, and slick goals people share on Youtube for years, but they can't all be PK Subban jumping out of the penalty box, nabbing a pass from Lars Eller to stream down the ice and leave Tukka Rask basking in a red glow.

With Carter Hart playing as well as he is, and the Flyers defence being what it is, it's just about splashing, crashing and finding some way to push that rubber thing past the line.

LEAVE THE DROUGHT TALK TO LORI AND THE WEATHER TEAM

Certain players have not scored... for either team.

Before Game 3, Claude Giroux, Sean Couturier, Travis Konecny and James van Riemsdyk had not potted a goal for the Flyers. Up 3-1 in the series, and they all have still not scored.

That said Couturier and Konecny have three assists each, Giroux has two helpers, and the three of them are killing it in the face-off circle at 50 per cent or higher.

The point is that those Habs who haven't scored yet (cough, cough, Gallagher) but have been taking a ton of shots need to just keep doing that. An assist is as good as a goal, and there's no need to start thinking about setting up websites and pointing out how long it's been since someone on the top line scored.

"As a team we win, and we lose as a team," said Muller. "Forget about yesterday, let's get ready for tonight."

Simple, but true.

A 1-0 win on a Jake Evans goal in overtime means one more trip to the Leafs' home rink (See? It's fun!) rather than logging on to book a tee time at the Mount Bruno Country Club.

ABOUT THOSE FACE-OFFS

The Flyers are starting to dominate on the draws.

Philly went from 51 per cent in the circle in Game 3 to 66 per cent in Game 4 on face-off wins. Philly has found the focus to control the draws, which is a killer when you need a goal or some momentum.

Giroux and Couturier (there are those names again) may not be scoring, but they were 74 and 71 per cent in the circle respectively in Game 4.

The Game 3 Jakub Voracek goal was off a face-off.

Swapping the man on the draw may be an effective way to at least throw off the Philly gunslingers.

Kotkaniemi, in particular, has struggled to control the puck on the draw, and it might be wise to switch the youngster once and a while.

JUST GO FOR IT

In the parlance of our time, it's time to give 'er.

No one thought the Habs would be playing playoff hockey this year, and no one thought Montreal would beat the Penguins, so there is no shame in throwing everything at Game 5.

There is so much youth on the team that has a fair bit of talent, a ton of energy and nothing to lose.

"Once more over the breach," said King Henry.

Charge at that Philly line and see what happens.

"This is one more test to our guys," said Muller. "This is going to be a tough game tonight. They're not giving us anything offensively. This is where we've got to learn how to dig in and where we've got to learn how to win hockey games."

It's not Shakespeare, but it works too.

...YOUPPI!? YOU THERE?

One last thing, why is Gritty the only mascot on social media trying to get in the Habs' heads and fire up his team?

It's time for Youppi! to do something other than host a quiz on the Habs official Instagram.

Shouldn't we be expecting more from a hall-of-famer?

Game's at 8 p.m.

The Canadiens will wear white.