PHILADELPHIA, PA – Claude Giroux scored 5:59 into overtime in Game Three of the Stanley Cup finals and propelled the team back into the series in a thrilling 4-3 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks. Four different Flyers scored in the win setting up what promises to be a very interesting Game Four Friday night in South Philly. Daniel Briere, Scott Hartnell, and Ville Leino also scored for the orange and black while Duncan Keith, Brent Sopel, and Patrick Kane scored for the Hawks.
The Flyers outshot Chicago 32-27 for the game and 15-4 in the third period. The game was evenly contested throughout the game. Giroux’s goal was the only shot Philadelphia took in overtime. The Flyers outhit the Hawks 40-31 and won 55% of the face-offs. Briere led the charge winning 75% of his face-offs.
After the game Giroux explained what happened on the game winning goal.
“I think I won the face-off and Kimmo (Timonen) passed me in the middle and passed to Briere on the side, and Matt Carle joined the rush. He’s a great player. He can see the ice pretty well. I was trying to get a stick on it and it trickled in.”
The Flyers also won the game just prior to Giroux’s goal 57 seconds earlier when they forced a turnover in the Hawks zone and Simon Gagne banged a shot off the far post, but the puck never crossed the goal line, going from one side of the post to the other along the goal line.
It wasn’t the only video review of the night. Hartnell’s goal off of a Chris Pronger shot was reviewed and counted when the puck barely crossed the goal line for the Flyers second goal of the game. It would be the Flyers second lead of the night but the Hawks the Hawks almost had the lead that would propel the team to victory thanks to Kane’s breakaway goal 2:50 into the third period, bit Leino’s goal 20 seconds after Kane’s goal set the stage for Giroux’s heroics in overtime.
Flyers Head Coach Peter Laviolette, like the rest of the Flyers, are heading into Friday’s pivitol Game Four a ton of confidence.
“I said this morning and I still am going to wake up tomorrow morning feeling the same way. I am 100% confident in the guys in the room to be able to win any hockey game against anybody. I think there’s that confidence in the room from our team as well. Obviously, you have to go out there and do at will of work and play well. We have a very good opponent that we’re playing against.” The Hawks, who appeared to wait for the Flyers to make a mistake rather than force the Flyers into them, should also look like a different team heading into Friday’s game.
“The first 40 minutes we started the game there, and it was the way we wanted to begin the game, and did some good things,” said Blackhawks head coach Joel Quenneville. “ I thought we had speed. We were dangerous in a lot of ways. They had two power play goals to get themselves in a good position. And we battled back there, key goal there in the second. In the third period, anything can happen. You start overtime, that look. It’s one of those games that from start to finish could have gone either way. A timely goal by them at the end. We had some timely goals ourselves. It’s pretty competitive where we’re at.”
Contact the author at Brian.Jennings@prohockeynews.com
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