Chicago Blackhawks 6, Philadelphia Flyers 5
Blackhawks lead series 1-0
This was not a pretty game. It may have been entertaining, but I’m having a hard time thinking of the last time I witnessed a Stanley Cup finals game that was played this sloppy by both teams.
The difference between the two teams was that Chicago had the ability to bear down, turn up the heat and actually play some defense while the Flyers could not.
11 total goals scored on 64 combined shots. Not exactly a great game for either starting goaltender, although Antti Niemi made a number of big saves in the final minutes to help the Blackhawks hold onto the lead.
What’s amazing about this game, which should give the Blackhawks even more confidence moving forward, was that Chicago scored 6 goals and yet neither Jonathan Toews nor Patrick Kane registered a point. In fact, the star players for each team had poor games with Kane, Toews, Dustin Byfuglien, Simon Gagne, Claude Giroux and Mike Richards were all held pointless and were a combined minus-16.
So, 11 total goals and the best players on each team had a bad game. Should be an interesting series.