MONTREAL

Sometimes digging out of a hole in a playoff series is about finding a way to break the pattern. Sometimes that takes something bold and unexpected.

Bold and unexpected, it’s fair to say, does not characterize Jacques Martin’s coaching style. Maybe that’s a contributing factor in his sub-.500 playoff record as an NHL coach.

But with his Montreal Canadiens down two games to none in their Eastern Conference final tussle with the sizzling Philadelphia Flyers, Martin does have one bold card to play.

Hint: It wasn’t putting Sergei Kostitsyn in the lineup for Game 2. That was just strange.

No, the move that’s there for Martin is to insert netminder Carey Price in place of Jaroslav Halak.

Risky? Absolutely. Worth the risk? Absolutely.

The Canadiens need to find a way to seize the initiative in this series starting with Game 3 at home Thursday night. So far it’s all been about what the Flyers have been doing and what Montreal hasn’t been doing, which for the most part has been putting pucks behind Michael Leighton.

And what, pray tell, will changing goalies do to help the likes of Mike Cammalleri, Brian Gionta and Andrei Kostitsyn find the net?

Well, nothing, specifically. But Price is a different character than Halak, for better or for worse, a much more confident and aggressive figure in the net. He plays the puck more aggressively. He might take a swipe at a Flyer in his crease.

He’s anything but passive, and any more passivity now will doom the Habs.

An attitude change, along with a roaring hometown crowd, might help get the Canadiens back on track. It’s a card that’s available now as a possible series-changer, but won’t really be as useful if the Canadiens lose Game 3 with Halak in net.

At this point, it’s really no longer about whether Price or Halak is the better netminder. That debate has raged on all season, each goalie has his supporters and detractors, and it will be the story of the summer in Montreal as to which goalie GM Pierre Gauthier chooses to keep, or if he keeps both.

It’s about changing the direction of the series. The Flyers appear to have a pretty good read on Halak at the moment. After exploiting Boston’s Tuukka Rask on the blocker side in the last series, the Flyers are having great success going high glove on Halak.

“We watched a little bit of video before the series,” said Flyers captain Mike Richards on Wednesday. “We saw some things we might be able to take advantage of.”

Start beating any goalie on the glove side, and his confidence will start to droop. Halak certainly looked a little weary in Game 2, less able to stand his ground against intruders than he had against Washington or Pittsburgh, and he looked downright awful on Ville Leino’s third-period, bad-angle wrist shot.

Even the Philly coaching staff is wondering whether Martin might turn to Price, and Flyer goalie coach Jeff Reese has prepared video scouting reports on both goalies.

The Flyers, of course, know from experience what a goalie change can do, even an involuntary one. With Brian Boucher in net, they were down 3-1 against the Bruins. Boucher was injured, Leighton came in during Game 5 and the Flyers became the third team in history to fight all the way back from a three-games-to-none deficit.

Martin, of course, already turned to Price once in these playoffs, and it didn’t exactly work. The Capitals put four past him in Game 4 en route to a 6-3 victory, and Price became a little unhinged that night, taking a pair of unsportsmanlike conduct penalties.

But that doesn’t mean it won’t work now. Price has played some big games this season, and let’s face it, the goaltending trends and heroes in these playoffs haven’t exactly been predictable.

Will Martin make the move? Probably not. Price was available on the off-day, Halak was not, and most believe it’s unlikely Martin would take the gamble.

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“I like the direction that we’re going,” said Martin on Wednesday. “Sure we still need to make some adjustments to get some production, but I’m confident it’s going to come.”

Doesn’t sound like a coach looking to switch goalies.

Sticking with Halak is the safe move. Then again, the phrase “safe is death” is a popular one in hockey these days, and if the Habs lose Thursday night, they’re dead.