After the scoring frenzy of Saturday night's Game 1, just about everyone expected a much more defensive game for Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Finals. Well, they were right. The Flyers and Blackhawks played with the same speed as they had on Saturday, but both goalies and defenses looked much, much better. The only problem was that the Blackhawks had Antti Niemi in net, and after Michael Leighton allowed two goals within 30 seconds of each other, Niemi did the rest. The Chicago goalie stopped 32 of 33 Philadelphia shots, including 14 of 15 in a very quick third period to put the Flyers down two games to none in the Stanley Cup Finals.
The first period showed the phsyical play that both teams wanted to unleash last night. Both teams had some heavy hits, and though the Flyers were outshot 9-3, it seemed like they had taken the best punch that Chicago could throw, but they hadn't seen anything yet. The second period was more of the same until very late in the period. The Blackhawks crowded the net in front of Michael Leighton, and Marian Hossa put back a rebound to give Chicago the first goal of the game. As had been the case in Game 1, the Flyers were unable to gain control of a puck in front of their own net, and the Blackhawks took advantage, scooping up the trash and putting it back in for the lead. On the ensuing faceoff, Dustin Byfuglien stole a pass away from Philadelphia and found Ben Eager, who then fired a shot over Leighton's glove for another goal. In just 30 seconds, a 0-0 tie had become a 2-0 lead for the Blackhawks, and they had all the momentum.
The third period belonged to the Flyers, but Antti Niemi was up to the task. Simon Gagne put Philadelphia on the board with a power play goal with 14 and a half minutes to play, and from there, it seemed like most of the game was played in the Chicago zone. The Flyers got chance after chance at Niemi, but they couldn't put another puck past him. You have to give Niemi credit, because a lesser goalie would have folded under that pressure, especially after giving up five goals in Game 1. However, Niemi took control of the game and kept Philadelphia from scoring again. His effort and a solid defensive showing by the Blackhawks, who blocked several Flyer shots and kept Niemi from facing even more pressure.
Now comes the big question: Can the Flyers come back from an 0-2 hole in the Stanley Cup Finals? What this loss last night did was turn both Games 3 and 4 into must wins now for Philadelphia. If they drop either game, they give Chicago a chance to close the series out in five games back in Chicago, and I don't even want to talk about what could happen if the Blackhawks win Game 3. The Flyers have shown that they can in fact play with Chicago, as they did in Game 1, but the Blackhawks are a different creature than any team the Flyers faced in the Eastern Conference Playoffs. Against the Devils, the Flyers shut down Zach Parise and Ilya Kovalchuk, and did the same to Marc Savard of the Bruins and Mike Cammalleri of Montreal. In each series, the Flyers were able to shut down the top scorers of their opponents. The funny thing is, they're doing it against Chicago as well. Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews still don't have a point in the series, but the Blackhawks are doing something no other team had been able to do to the Flyers so far, and that's find someone else to pick up the slack. The role players for Chicago have done a good job in scoring so far, but you have to think that it's only a matter of time until the Flyers break through with a big game.
The Blackhawks are a good team, no doubt about that. They're the first team the Flyers have faced in the playoffs that are as fast as them, play as physical as them and can execute on offense as well as they've been doing in the playoffs. Not only that, but Chicago has the hottest goalie in the postseason, and he's coming off of possibly the game of his life last night. All the momentum seems to be pointing towards Chicago, but there's no reason to give up hope yet. This Flyers team has more heart than the 1997 team, so you don't have to worry about a repeat of that Finals performance again. However, Game 3 has to be the best effort that the Flyers can give, because if they lose that, then they'll be down 0-3 for the second time in these playoffs. While they were able to come back once, coming back from a second 0-3 hole is something no team has done, and against a team like Chicago, it seems very, very unlikely.
For now, the Flyers just have to take it one game at a time. Game 3 is tomorrow night back in Philadelphia, and you know that crowd is going to be crazy.
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