CHICAGO, Ill. – As the Chicago Blackhawks come into Game Five of the Stanley Cup Final, there was a slight sense of urgency as the Philadelphia Flyers took the momentum away in winning the last two games and evening up the series at two games apiece. But that uneasiness was immediately erased as the ‘Hawk scored three goals in the first on the way to a 7-4 victory.
The first four games were pretty close and each one could’ve gone either way. But the Blackhawks dominated most of the game except for probably the first ten minutes of the second period. Everyone kept talking about two players in particular. The first is how Flyers defenseman Chris Pronger was able to get under the Blackhawks skin and not allowing the top lines to get anything going. The second is ‘Hawks winger Dustin Byfuglien play; in not being able to neutralize Pronger and his ability to get in front of the net to apply pressure in front of the net. But all that changed tonight.
But more of that will come later.
As Chicago’s Dave Bolland was coming out of the penalty box, the Flyers Scott Hartnell was called for a penalty himself. But the difference on this power play opportunity was the fact that the Blackhawks wanted to score more. They battled and kept the puck in the offensive zone so with no pressure; Kris Versteeg was free with the puck behind the net. Versteeg shot the puck out at center but was deflected by Chris Pronger right to defenseman Brent Seabrook. Seabrook then took a shot towards the net only to have the puck change direction off of Pronger again and in on the short side of Michael Leighton the Flyers netminder for the first tally of the game 12:17 into the game.
Three minutes later on the delayed penalty, the Blackhawks put the lead at two. Byfuglien fired a shot towards the net that was deflected by Brent Sopel but Bolland snuck up behind the net and retrieved the puck and shot it at Leighton’s skate and rebounded on in.
A minute forty-five left in the period, the ‘Hawks got the period goal trifecta. With good puck support, Kris Versteeg angled in with the puck; he had in front of him Bolland and Byfuglien cris-crossing in front distracting the Flyers netminder and was able to get the wrist shot in high to give the ‘Hawk a 3-0 lead after the first.
Going into the second frame you knew that a change was going to happen as Brian Boucher came in relief of Leighton. And the Flyers responded quickly. It took thirty-two seconds for them to get on the board as Scott Hartnell got an easy open net rebound past Antti Niemi who thought he had the puck stopped.
Patrick Kane got that goal back. Andrew Ladd made the rush to the net, fired the shot only to have Pronger block it back to him. Ladd then saw Kane rush in and made the far post goal. But the Flyers came right back at them to halve the score 4-2. As pressure was being applied in front of the net, Kimmo Timonen was able to grab a rebound and fire the puck above the scrum in front.
Byfuglien got his first of the Final as he was parked in front of the net. All five players on the ‘Hawks touched the puck and expanded the Flyers in the corners as captain Jonathan Toews was able to get the puck in front to give the Chicago a 5-2 after two periods.
The third period was like the second as both teams exchanged two goals apiece. James van Riemsdyk scored for the Flyers who had a great fore-check on the series as he scored on a big rebound off Niemi at 6:36 in.
The Blackhawks took the puck up on a rush. Patrick Kane charged up on the three-on-two and passed it back to Patrick Sharp who was able wrist a shot in on Boucher with 3:52 left. But just a minute and a half later Ville Leino took the puck in, cut across in front of the net and passed to the near post where Simon Gagne was waiting on the open side after Niemi committed to the far post to bring the Flyers within two goals.
Right after the goal, Boucher was pulled for the extra attacker but Byfuglien was able to get the empty net goal.
Chicago Head Coach Joel Quenneville made a few lineup changes and moved Kane off the top line with Toews and Byfuglien and if paid dividends in tonight’s game. Toews and Byfuglien were able to finally get to Pronger in taking him away from the puck for them to make the plays. Marian Hossa whose play has been the energy when he is on the ice was added to the first line on a few shifts. The numbers show what this change has done. Pronger for the game was a minus -5 and Byfuglien had two goals for four points. The ‘Hawks have so much depth that you can place all the forwards names in a cup and pull three out and get great results.
“I think we had good energy right from the outset, great pace and had speed on all the lines. I think there was some balance as far as offensive ability [and] reliability defensively. [We] kept that pace from start till finish,” said Quenneville. “We made it a little more interesting than we would’ve liked.”
Niemi stopped 23 of the 27 total shots for the win. Leighton gave up the first three goals after going 10 for 13 shots but Boucher was given the loss stopping 11 of 14 shots.
Special teams were a factor in this game also. The Flyers came in as one of the top power-play teams but were held to none tonight on three opportunities. As for the ‘Hawks they finally got calls in their favor and scored two goals on four power-play chances.
Overall the ‘Hawks played a complete game. Six of the seven goals were scored by different players. The first period made the difference as the team got the fore-checking and pressure to dominate the whole period. You can sense a bit of uneasiness as the roles reversed as the team lay down a bit in the second but were resilient and recovered from their mistakes.
The series now goes back to Philadelphia for Game Six as the Chicago Blackhawks can win their first Stanley Cup Championship since 1961. This is one of the longest droughts between championships in any of the major sports. Will the Flyers come back or will the ‘Hawks break the home win streak and bring the Cup to Chicago? We will see as both teams will have a two day break to rest up for Game Six on Wednesday.
Contact matt.chin@prohockeynews.com
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