Sorts of Sports

Stanley Cup Thoughts

Marian Hossa and Ben Eager scored 28 seconds apart late in the second period as the Chicago Blackhawks went up 2-0 against the Philadelphia Flyers in the Stanley Cup Finals.

In a game that was very different from the 6-5 scoring deluge in Game 1, the Blackhawks were able to hold off a furious rush at the end from the Flyers to take both at the United Center.

The two teams return to Philadelphia for Game 3 on Wednesday.

The first period was very physical on Monday night with both teams taking the body whenever they got a chance.  Daniel Carcillo returned to the lineup and provided big hits in his early shifts including a big hit on teammate Jeff Carter that left the Flyers winger shaken up a bit on the bench.

The Blackhawks outshot the Flyers 9-3 in the first period with neither team getting really good chances, despite both teams having a power play opportunity.  The Blackhawks got their first power play of the series at the 14:51 mark of the first when Blair Betts was sent off for cross checking.  The Hawks had the better play in the first and held the Flyers without a shot over the last half of the period.

Both teams settled in to the game fairly quickly has the hitting subsided and both teams were much better defensively then compared to the first game in which 11 goals were scored.  Both goalies, Michael Leighton and Antti Niemi played better with Niemi looking as sharp as he can be.

The second period continued to have some physical play and not a lot of chances.  Mike Richards had a good opportunity coming out of the penalty box seven minutes into the second period but Niemi came up with a right pad save.

Both teams exchanged good chances but both goalies would stand tall.  After game 1, it wasn’t sure how both goalies, who were shaky at best would respond, but the play of the goalies was definitely a nice turnaround from Game 1.

At the17:09 mark Marian Hossa would finally break the scoreless tied, when he put home a rebound past Leighton to make it 1-0 Chicago.  The initial shot came from Patrick Sharp near the top of the left circle.  Leighton made a left pad save and the rebound fell to the left of the crease where Hossa took a couple of jabs at it before finally getting it past the outstretched leg of Leighton.

Chicago held momentum from this and it only took 28 seconds before they capitalized.  After a turnover in the neutral zone by Philadelphia, Ben Eager came down the right wing and unleashed a wrist shot past Braydon Coburn and past the ear of Leighton beating him glove side to give Chicago a 2-0 lead.

The Flyers outshot the Blackhawks 15-13 in the second period but the play and momentum was clearly in Chicago’s favor after those two late goals

And that would be all Antti Niemi would need.

The Flyers need physical play in order to control play, they also need to be aggressive and in the third period they did that.

The Flyers got the momentum via a power play that carried into third period, and even though they didn’t score they had some good chances.  Niemi made a few big saves.  After a big series against Boston, Simon Gagne had been kept scoreless.

However, at the 5:20 mark of the third period Simon Gagne would get on the board.  With Patrick Sharp in the box for tripping, Simon Gagne took a bouncing pass from Mike Richards, and put it toward the net.  It took a weird bounce and hopped in the air over the outstretched glove of Niemi and into the net.  Gagne who, along with Briere, have been the best forwards for the Flyers over the course of the playoffs got a little lucky on the shot, but nonetheless had the Flyers within a goal.

After that it was all Flyers and as a result all Antti Niemi.  Niemi made 32 saves in the game, and as the Flyers were dominating the third period, Niemi was stopping everything they through at him.

Down the stretch Richards robbed Gagne on a rebound after he made a great reaction glove save off a nice deflection by Mike Richards.

With Leighton on the bench the Flyers had a good chance off Daniel Brieres stick but Niemi was strong.  Patrick Sharp hit the post shooting toward the empty net then an icing by the Flyers with 19 seconds left sealed their fate.

Going into Game 3 the Flyers will need to get a win, now that they are returning to Philadelphia down two.  However, they have to defeat the Hawks under a rare condition.  The Hawks have won 8 straight games on the road, and have the fact they held serve in the first two games to build the confidence.

The big stars have not shown up yet.  Mike Richards, Jeff Carter, Simon Gagne, and Daniel Briere have not made a big enough impact for the Flyers.

Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Dustin Byfuglien, have not made their impact in the series.

Both goalies played well in the second game, after the game one butterflies, expect that to continue.

The Flyers  are 2-7 on the power play while the Hawks are 0-3, special teams hasn’t played the definitive role in the series although both games would have been different if the Flyers got the extra marker on the mad advantage.

Look for the physical play to rise to a new level.  The first period Monday had a rough edge but settled down after that, the Flyers will need 60 minutes of rough play to really make a difference.

Chris Pronger has been a pest, stole the game pucks after both games, and has shut down Dustin Byfuglien, but is a non factor offensively and if the Hawks continue to get goals from their third and fourth line he won’t play a role in a Flyers comeback, but we all know he’s a good player so lets see what happens.

The Flyers will need a 2 goal lead to win game 3, the Hawks responded after every goal the Flyers scored when they took a lead and they have poise and confidence to not be rattled by the Flyers crowd or one goal.