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CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS VS. PHILADELPHIA
FLYERS
Flyers surge, Hawks hope for home turnaround
Best-of-three looms with
series tied 2-2
by Charles Smith
Hockeytalk.biz
JUNE 6, 2010 -- So far,
this series has had a little bit of everything. Overtime goals, lead
changes, late-period goals, rookies scoring game-tying and game-winning
goals, rookies shrinking in the face of veteran greatness, and a goaltending
battle with both netminders firing on all cylinders.
The 11 goals scored in the
Game 1 Chicago victory were the most scored in a Stanley Cup final series
game since the Jeremy Roenick-led Hawks locked horns with Mario Lemieux and
his Pittsburgh Penguins way back in 1992 when a 6-5 win in Game 4 completed
a series sweep for the Pens.
A topsy-turvy Game 1 saw
the Flyers take the lead early, and then regain it later in the first, which
ended 3-2. Four second-period goals proved to be Chicago’s biggest moment
thus far in the series, and Tomas Kopecky scored the lone third-period
marker to ice the 6-5 Blackhawk win. The game featured four lead changes.
The middle frame proved to
be big again for Chicago in Game 2 as Marian Hossa and Ben Eager scored
goals 23 seconds apart, and the Hawks holding on for a 2-1 victory and 2-0
series lead.
Chris Pronger’s decision
to swipe both game pucks at the end of Games 1 and 2 became a media
sideshow. After Game 2, victorious and jubilant having scored the game
winner, Ben Eager confronted the star defenseman and Pronger looked very
bush league indeed. But as those in the know, know, the mighty Prongs was
just trying to let off a little steam without drawing a suspension. Better
a little petty theft, Pronger must have figured somewhere in that head of
his, than committing a suspendable offense, as he did with his elbows in
Game 3 of the 2007 Cup final.
The Blackhawks were
soaring after taking the first two games at home, but things went awry as
they went to Philly looking for the sweep. Down 2-0 and heading home with
their confidence on the ropes, the underdog Flyers would deliver a two-game
counterpunch, showing their own playoff mettle.
Patrick Kane’s breakaway
goal at 2:50 of the third period of Game 3 threatened to drop the Flyers
into a 3-0 series hole. But 20 seconds later, Ville Leino (remember that
name) staked his claim as Philly’s unknown Mr. Clutch, drawing the Flyers
even at 3-3. The goal forced overtime and fellow depth charge Claude Giroux
authored the series’ first turning point at 5:59 of overtime. Giroux’s OT
goal came on a 3-on-2 after a botched Chicago line change.
After three games, the
Flyers had scored four power play goals on ten attempts. The fact that
Chicago had yet to score one with the man advantage on six tries was
becoming an issue, and the talk turned to the fact that neither Jonathan
Toews nor Dustin Byfuglien had found the net.
With Chicago’s series lead
halved, Philly’s confidence skyrocketed going into Game 4, and they entered
the game as if shot from a cannon, pouncing on the suddenly-shaky
Blackhawks, building a 4-1 first period lead.
Chicago built some
confidence Friday night with a two-goal third period, but it proved to be little more
than a scare in Philadelphia as Duncan Keith couldn’t corral a puck at the
blueline and Jeff Carter's empty-net goal with 24.6 seconds remaining iced
the 5-3 victory to even the series at two games apiece. A new subplot
developed in Game 4 as Ville Leino—there’s that name again—scored the
game-winning goal just two nights after his game-tying Game 3 goal saved his
Flyers from a 3-0 series deficit.
So riveting was Game 4,
that Vice President Joe Biden didn't leave the arena until Carter's empty
netter.
The series is now a
best-of-three.
The highly anticipated
matchup between power forward Dustin Byfuglien of Chicago, and towering
defenseman Chris Pronger of Philadelphia, has thus far been very one-sided.
In short, Pronger has simply owned the youngster. Byfuglien's linemates,
Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews, have fared no better, and the trio has been
held without a goal in three of the four games played. Superstar Marian
Hossa has done a great job ragging the puck, but has only one goal in the
series to go with his two assists.
The Flyers have done a
masterful job of not allowing the Hawks to attain any speed through the
neutral zone, but as evidenced in Game 2, so skillful are the Hawks, that a
single lapse of 23 seconds can be the difference between victory and defeat.
Given the plethora of
offensive weapons on the Chicago roster, surprisingly it is the Philly power
play clicking at a stellar 5-for-16 (31.3%. Special teams play cannot be
overlooked at this time of the year.
Leino’s seven goals broke
the Flyers franchise record for playoff goals by a rookie, set by Mel
Bridgman in 1976. His 16 total points leads all
current NHL rookies and also broke the club’s rookie point scoring record
set by Brian Propp in 1980.
Captain Mike Richards play
has been inspirational. He kicked off the scoring in Game 4 with an
unassisted goal and set up Simon Gagne’s Game 2 marker during a third-period
comeback attempt. The superlatives are flowing in Richards’ direction as he
logs key minutes in the now-even series.
The momentum of this
series seems to clearly have shifted to the Flyers. The first two games
could have gone either way, and Philly has really outplayed the Hawks since
the third period of Game 2. Antii Niemi has stayed strong in goal for the
Hawks, but at the other end, goalie Michael Leighton has been his equal.
It is all on Hawks' coach
Joel Quenneville to rally his troops and give them the game plan and
confidence to win two of the next three games.
The Blackhawks clearly
cannot rely on outclassing the Flyers to win this series, as the Flyers have
kept a lid on their emotions, surrendering only six shorthanded
opportunities in the first three games and twelve overall after four. The
Blackhawks’ young first line needs to grow up and take the game directly to
Pronger, who they seem to fear (with good reason). Game 4 was their first
win in the shots department, and their power play was only marginally better
in Friday’s game, going 1-6, its best outing of the series.
Fortunately for the Hawks,
if a Game 7 is needed, it will be played in Chicago, as they have not been
victorious in Philadelphia since 1996.
For the Flyers, it is
important to keep the pedal to the metal. Keep up the strong forecheck to
take away the time and space of the Hawks blueliners, and continue to make
the Hawks play stop-and-start in the neutral zone. In the defensive zone,
continue to keep puckhandling wizards like Marian Hossa, Patrick Sharp and
Patrick Kane on the perimeter. Pronger must also stay dominant in the
crease.
Fans can only hope that
the remaining games will be as entertaining as the first four. Chicago fans
will be welcoming their warriors home on Sunday night, and no matter what,
over 20,000 fans in Philly will be eyewitness to an elimination game at
Wachovia Center on June 9th.
Could it be that a
seven-game series looms, with the home team winning each contest, a la the
2003 final when the Devils edged the then-Mighty Ducks?
MORE:
Game 6 Audio Preview:
Listen Online
Likely Conn
Smythe Trophy Candidates
by Gaby Martinez
Stanley Cup
Final Preview
by Charles Smith
Plus:
Expert Picks
How the Cup
Finalists Were Built
by Chris Kober
On the surface the two teams seem quite similar. They each have three lines that
can score through pure skill or relentless grit; each boasts a stable of
stalwart defensemen and previously untested goaltending...however, the season
has seen them take very different paths to the Final.
(Photo: Marian Hossa, CHI)
What a Difference a Generation Makes
Bill, Rocky and the trip from '92 to '10
by Josh Brewster | NHL Quick Shots
(Bill
Wirtz was a) Shakespearian figure, a stubborn old patriarch with loving children
primed to succeed the old man...Like a modern-day King Lear, the Patriarch
clings to his views and wanders alone, his empire operating at diminished
capacity over the years, unable to achieve the success he craves.
(Photo: The late Bill Wirtz)
Hockeytalk's Preseason Prediction: Blackhawks for Cup
Since 1994: Want the Cup? Finish 1-4 in Conference
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