At the beginning of this week, who would have thought that Stanley Cup Finals would be coming down to a best of three series? The Blackhawks had gotten past the Flyers in two one goal games in Chicago, and were headed to Philadelphia with a 2-0 lead in the Finals. Plus, the Blackhawks had that lead despite getting little production from their top line. It seemed like only a matter of time before the Flyers just got out of the way, and Chicago won their first Stanley Cup in 49 years.
What a difference a few days makes. After two games in Philadelphia, the Stanley Cup Finals are now tied at two games a piece, with the Flyers now having all the momentum after a 5-3 win last night. The two goal difference marks the first time in this series that either team has won by more than a single goal, and honestly, it shouldn't had been as close as the final score shows. Chicago scored twice in the final eight minutes, but Jeff Carter finished things off with an empty net goal to let the fans in the Wachovia Center breathe easy, knowing that the potential Stanley Cup clinching game would be back in Philadelphia next week.
After struggling in the first three games of this series, Mike Richards got things going last night early in the first period. His steal and power play goal just five minutes in set the entire tone for the night and let the Blackhawks know that this team wasn't going to go away. For much of the first period, the game went back and forth, with each team having chances. Michael Leighton was solid in goal throughout the game, having perhaps his best effort in the Stanley Cup Finals. Later in the first, Matt Carle would score his first goal of the playoffs, and despite Chicago scoring just four minutes later, the Flyers had yet another answer. Claude Giroux snuck through the Blackhawk defense and when Kimmo Timonen took a great pass from Scott Hartnell, he fould Giroux open right next to the net. Fifty seconds after Chicago had cut the lead to one, the Flyers had a 3-1 lead at the end of the first period.
It was a quiet second period, but the Flyers did what they had to do to maintain their lead. Chris Pronger continued to stone Dustin Byfuglien, while Leighton made some key saves to keep the Orange and Black up by two goals. After taking a punishing hit earlier in the game, Ville Leino came back in the third period and scored just six minutes into the third to put the Flyers up 4-1. From there, Chicago would dominate the period, scoring first on a five on three power play, and then again just three and a half minutes later to cut the score to 4-3. Luckily, the Flyers showed the same determination that they've had all playoffs long and buckled down. The Blackhawks had their chances, but once Jeff Carter found the back of an open net in the last minute, this game was decided. The Flyers had ensured that there would be one last home game for them this season, and it might be for the Stanley Cup.
Once the dust had settled on the first two games of this series, I said that all the pressure was with the Flyers. They had dropped back to back one goal games, and looked like they couldn't keep up with the Blackhawks at key times during the games. Both Games 3 and 4 were considered must win, and the way things were going, I wasn't sure that the Flyers would be able to win both games. Sometimes it feels very good to eat crow. The Flyers looked like a different team in Game 4, moving past the Blackhawks with fresher legs and putting more pressure on Antti Niemi than he's seen during the entire postseason. Chicago lost back to back playoff games for the first time this season, and now the pressure is back on the Blackhawks. Their first line has been next to useless in this series, combining for one goal and four assists in four games. A lot of the credit has to be given to Chris Pronger and the Flyers defense, which has played with the same speed that Chicago has shown in the last two games. As long as the Flyers can keep up the pace that they've had in the last two games, then Game 5 is going to be another close, physical game that could certainly go either way.
For all the talk about Antti Niemi before this series, the Chicago goalie has certainly looked a bit normal during the Finals. Some of that might be due to the fact that he is a young goalie playing in his first Stanley Cup Finals, but a lot of credit has to be given to the Philadelphia offense as well. The Flyers have scored four or more goals in three of the four games so far, and their lines are moving with speed and skill, which is great to see this late into the season. Add to that the fact that Mike Richards scored his first goal of the series last night, and Claude Giroux and Danny Briere are playing on another level right now, and the Flyers just look like the hotter team right now. I can't say enough about Ville Leino and how he's picked himself off the scrap heap during the playoffs. The same can be said for Scott Hartnell, who's looked nothing but impressive over the last two games especially.
During this entire postseason run, I've compared the Philadelphia Flyers to Jason Voorhees. Every time you think that the Flyers are dead, whether it's at the end of the regular season, being down 0-3 against Boston or this series against Chicago, they've come back. Each time you think that you've lost them, you turn around, and they're standing there, waiting to finish you off. This team has been through more pressure situations than any other Flyer team that I can remember, and for the first time in my lifetime, it seems like this team has a real chance to win the Stanley Cup. This series is a best of three now, with Game 5 in Chicago tomorrow night. You know that Chicago is going to come out playing their best hockey of the series, and they're going to have to. The Blackhawks don't want to come to Philadelphia down 3-2 in the series.
There might only be two or three games left in the NHL season, but this has been one hell of a run for the Flyers. Let's see how it ends now.
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