The Blackhawks were a No. 2 seed and the Flyers a No. 7 going into the Stanley Cup playoffs, but if there’s any disparity in talent, effort or depth between them, it’s is barely discernible three games into the best-of-seven finals.
The Hawks hold a 2-1 lead in the series, but all three games have been decided by one goal, and Philly’s 4-3 victory in Game 3 on Wednesday required overtime. It also extended two trends the Hawks need to reverse in Game 4 at Philadelphia’s Wachovia Center beginning at 7 Friday night: They were noticeably outplayed in the third period for the second straight game, and their top scoring line continued to misfire.
“We had a good start, but our finish wasn’t as strong,” defenseman Duncan Keith conceded after the Hawks were outshot 15-4 in the third period.
In one sense it was understandable: The Flyers played with relentless desperation, mindful that an 0-3 deficit against a team of the Blackhawks’ caliber would be insurmountable, even for a team that had come from 0-3 down to beat Boston in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
But Philly also had a 15-4 edge in shots in the third period of Game 2, when the Hawks seemed content to sit on the 2-1 lead they’d taken by scoring two goals within 28 seconds late in the second period. They took a 3-2 lead on Patrick Kane’s first goal of the series 2:50 into Wednesday’s third period, but Philly’s Ville Leino countered 27 seconds later, and the Flyers took the game to the Hawks for the rest of the evening.
“We’ve got to keep moving our feet and use our speed,” Keith said, suggesting a possible remedy. “We’ve had good third periods all year.”
Claude Giroux’s goal 5:59 into overtime was the game-winner, but Hawks coach Joel Quenneville believed that Leino’s rapid response to Kane’s score was just as significant.
“Big goal for us, then they score on the next shift—that changed the momentum,” Quenneville said. “It was a tough loss and we’re certainly disappointed, but it should create an appetite for us going into Game 4. We’ll be looking for a response.”
Kane assisted on Keith’s second-period goal, and Jonathan Toews picked up an assist on Kane’s goal, the first points of the series for the Hawks’ marquee young players. Quenneville scoffed at suggestions that the stage might be too big for them, or that roughneck Flyers defenseman Chris Pronger has carved his way into their psyches with his nasty stick work in front of the net.
“That line has gotten better each game of the series,” Quenneville said. “They were dangerous last night, had more puck time. I would expect that to continue.”
Toews acknowledged that he might have been trying too hard to fulfill his “Captain Serious” role through the first three games.
“I feel I’ve gotten better every game, but there’s always something more you can give,” he said. “As the captain, you want to be giving something that your teammates can recognize and respond to, whether it’s on the score sheet or something else.
“Coming into the series, we knew it was going to be a dogfight, and that’s what you saw. But we’re pretty upbeat. We’re ready to regroup and get back on the horse and play a better game.”
Toews and his fellow Olympians have played in more than 100 games this season, many of them physical battles waged with bare-knuckles intensity. But he wouldn’t hear of a possible fatigue factor.
“It’s not about what your body’s going through. It’s about what’s in your head and how bad you want it,” he said. “How many guys are lucky enough to be in this situation, playing in games like these?”