Stanely Cup 2010: Flyers Lose Game Two, but Look Far From Finished

The Chicago Blackhawks were badly outplayed in the third period of game two of the Stanley Cup Finals, but in the end, they escaped with a 2-1 victory and a 2-0 series lead.

For the Flyers, they can take solace in the fact that they have now played two highly contested games against the favored Blackhawks—two games that could have gone in the Flyers favor.

Philadelpia Flyers head coach Peter Laviolette gave game one “goat” Michael Leighton a vote of confidence by giving him a chance at redemption, starting the tough-luck goaltender in game two. Laviolette was rewarded with a strong effort from Leighton, one which saw him make 24 saves on 26 Chicago shots.

At the other end of the ice, Chicago goaltender Antti Niemi (who was chosen first star of the game) was just a little bit better than Leighton, making 32 saves on 33 Philadelphia shots, including 15 saves in the third period—a couple of which were game savers.

Once again, Chicago did a great job of containing the Flyers best players, as both Mike Richards, Jeff Carter, and the red-hot Danny Briere were all kept off the scoresheet in game two.

Similarly, the Flyers were able to keep the likes of Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, and Dustin Byfuglien off the scoresheet, but once again fell victim to Marian Hossa—who scored the opening goal and was dominant all night long.

The Flyers probably deserved a better fate in game two as they threw everything at the Blackhawks, who looked out of gas, nervous, and confused for most of the third period.

If not for plenty of off-target shots by the Flyers, it could have been a very different result; sadly, for the most part, the Flyers’ forwards were off the mark all night, often missing the net completely from in close.

Physically, the Flyers held their own against the Hawks and, at times, looked to be dominating the younger Hawks.

Make no mistake about it, the Hawks are willing to exchange with the Flyers and the feel of this series is one of anger, hurt, and hate. That said, the Flyers seem to be winning the battles down low, which is often a good measure of how the physical side of the game is going.

Flyers defenseman Chris Pronger continued his dominance of Blackhawks pesky forward Dustin Byfuglien—keeping him off the scoreboard and making the man they call “Buff” a non-factor in front of the Flyers net.

During the CBC broadcast, former NHL goaltender Glenn Healy stated that “if the Chicago Blackhawks can win game two they have a 94% chance of winning this series”. Without the benefit of confirming those figures, I would suggest that the Flyers backs are firmly up against the wall right now; clearly, game three is a must win situation for the Orange and Black.

Given the Flyers 2-0 deficit, it seems game three at the Wachovia Center is a must win. Sure, the Flyers came back from a 3-0 series deficit against the Boston Bruins in round two, but nobody believes this team could come back from 3-0 twice, do they?

The good news is the Flyers have yet to be outplayed by the Hawks and, as mentioned earlier, the Flyers could easily be up 2-0 in this series themselves.

The sad reality is that the Flyers are indeed down two games to none and will have to hope that a change in venue at home in Philadelphia brings them better luck against the Cinderella Hawks.

For more NHL news and notes check out my website at www.thesalpshot.com
Until next time,

Peace!