The Blackhawks’ coronation as Stanley Cup champions might not be the pro forma affair their rejuvenated legions of fans have come to expect.
Yes, the Hawks took a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven Stanley Cup finals by beating the Philadelphia Flyers 2-1 at the pulsating United Center on Monday night, scoring twice within a 28-second span of the second period, then holding on with white-knuckle desperation through the third.
It was tightly played, grudgingly contested and physical enough to be borderline criminal—Game 1 was “Holiday on Ice” by comparison. The end result—the win—is what matters most for the Hawks, of course, as they seek to end a Stanley Cup drought that extends a Cubs-like 49 years.
But Game 2 looked and felt more like an escape than a clear-cut victory. And the Hawks know they’ll have to be better to survive the raucous, hostile atmosphere at Philadelphia’s Wachovia Center, where the series shifts for Games 3 and 4 Wednesday and Friday.
“They’re really good at home and we expect a loud building, but we won in loud buildings in San Jose and Vancouver,” Hawks coach Joel Quenneville said. “We’ll do our best to quiet ‘em. We always expect our next game to be our best game.”
The Hawks have won seven straight playoff games on the road.
Marian Hossa hadn’t scored a goal since Game 3 of the Western Conference semifinals against Vancouver, but he ended his eight-game dry spell when he got to the net and flipped a rebound of Troy Brouwer’s shot past Flyers goalie Michael Leighton at 17:09 of the second period. To that point Leighton seemed to have repaired all the leaks he’d sprung in Game 1, when five of the Hawks’ first 20 shots found the net and he was pulled late in the second period.
“It’s been a long time,” Hossa said. “A bounce, a garbage goal—I was looking for anything. It was a relief.”
Hossa is paid—handsomely—to score goals. The Hawks’ game-winner came from a more unlikely source: Ben Eager, a hard-charging, throw-his-weight-around forward whose primary job is to rattle bodies in the limited ice time he gets. But Eager has a hard, heavy shot, and he found himself with an opportunity to uncork one less than 30 seconds after Hossa ended the scoreless standoff. Eager took a pass from Dustin Byfuglien and, with Leighton screened by a defenseman, blasted a slap shot over the goalie’s left shoulder for a 2-0 Hawks lead at 17:37.
“Huge goal,” Quenneville said.
“He looked like a 50-goal scorer on that shot,” teammate Patrick Sharp said. “We see it in practice all the time. This is playoff hockey. You can’t rely on one guy or one line. Everybody has to step up.”
Including, presumably, the Hawks’ “big line” of Byfuglien, Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane. Byfuglien earned an assist for a set-up pass on Eager’s goal, but Toews and Kane remained scoreless for a second straight game and really weren’t much in evidence.
That the Hawks won anyway is largely attributable to the remarkable play of Antti Niemi in goal. Two nights after being nicked for five goals in the Hawks’ 6-5 Game 1 victory, Niemi allowed but one on 33 Flyers shots. Fifteen of those shots came in the third period, which seemed to be played entirely in the Hawks’ end—they managed just four shots in the third. At least a dozen of Niemi’s 32 acrobatic stops were highlight-reel worthy.
“Antti has a lot of pride, and he wasn’t happy about giving up five the other night, even though he didn’t play that poorly,” Sharp said. “He was huge. He’s our backbone back there.”
Niemi, without a minute of playoff experience, was the Hawks’ unknown quantity heading into the post-season. He’s 14-4 with a 2.39 goals-against average … and two wins away from hoisting the Stanley Cup.
“There’s a huge difference in confidence—like night and day,” Niemi said. “I think that’s the biggest reason I can play this well right now.”
Simon Gagne’s goal at 5:20 of the third period was the Flyers’ only score despite relentless pressure on Niemi.
“I think we outshot and out-chanced them, but we didn’t get the results we were looking for. Their goaltender was outstanding in the third period,” Flyers coach Peter Laviolette said.
“I don’t think we should be frustrated. I don’t think we got outplayed.”
They did not—they were beaten by a hot goaltender. And with the scene shifting to Philly, the Flyers were probably a little more confident that they deserve to be facing an 0-2 deficit. Sharp and Eager are former Flyers. They know what to expect.
“It’s going to be an awesome atmosphere,” Sharp said, “but we can’t get caught up in that.”