Blackhawks lead series 2-0
[Boxscore] - [Recap] - [SBN Game Page] - [Chicago Reaction]
[Corsi and Fenwick] - [Head-to-Head TOI] - [EV Faceoffs] - [Shift Charts]
The Flyers played an incredible third period. They outscored the Blackhawks 1-0, outshot them 15-4, and spent the vast majority of the period in the Chicago zone.
Unfortunately, there was more to the game than the third period.
The Hawks scored back-to-back goals late in the second on consecutive shots by Marian Hossa and Ben Eager, giving the Hawks an immediately cushioned lead they were able to hang onto despite massive Flyer pressure in the third.
Without any transition, here are the bullets:
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Michael Leighton bounced back beautifully from his Game 1 crapfest, challenging shots slightly more and keeping rebounds to a minimum. He definitely seems to be over his SCF jitters.
- Simply put, the addition of Dan Carcillo did nothing, and the Flyers could have used James van Riemsdyk's net presence and size in the third period.
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Oskars Bartulis was a -1 because of a poor play by Lukas Krajicek, but other than that he was stellar. The decision to keep Parent in the lineup as long as he was looks even dumber now.
- The Flyers' patience with the puck in the offensive zone might not work as well against the Blackhawks as it did previously in these playoffs.
In the first two games, the Blackhawks held serve. The ball is in the Flyers court now.
After the jump, questions answered, comment of the night, and your thoughts on the Flyers' first losing streak since this.
Questions Answered:
- Can the Flyers slow the Hawks down? Yes. Very few odd-man rushes.
- Does Michael Leighton bounce back? Hell yes. He was very solid, and barely to blame for either goal.
- How effective is Carcillo in his return? Not at all, really. Carcillo leveled a linemate and caused a Chicago power play. He was on the third line by mid game.
- Can the top line (on either team) generate some offense? Gagne scored on the power play, but that was it.
- How long does it take for Chicago to be handed a power play? About fifteen minutes.
- The defense is better, right? Hell yes. All thanks to Bartulis, who played 10:45 tonight. In other terms, that's 10:04 more than Parent could manage in Game 1.
Comment of the Night:
Latvian sea wolves are the very best kind of sea wolves. --HuckNZ
Go Flyers.