Hawks can't win them all: Flyers take Game 3 in OT
PHILADELPHIA - It's a series now.
The Blackhawks were able to take the Flyers to overtime Wednesday night in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Finals, but they couldn't steal the victory, falling 4-3 on Claude Giroux's redirection at 5:59 of the extra period.
"We were right there," Hawks defenseman Duncan Keith said. "We've got to learn what mistakes we did out there, and basically it comes to staying out of the penalty box.
"We talk about that every day. Every day we talk about that and sooner or later we've got to put that in our heads."
The Flyers scored 2 power-play goals in regulation, while the Hawks went 0-for-3.
The Hawks could have moved within a victory of winning the Stanley Cup, but they still lead the best-of-seven series 2-1 with Game 4 on Friday back at the Wachovia Center.
"It's one of those games that could have gone either way, start to finish," Hawks coach Joel Quenneville said.
"They probably feel like they could have won tonight, and we feel we could have won the two there," Flyers coach Peter Laviolette said.
The loss ended the Hawks' seven-game winning streak in the playoffs.
"At the end of the day it's over and done with," defenseman Brent Sopel said. "There's nothing you can do and you have to move on to Game 4."
The game went to overtime after Patrick Kane and Ville Leino traded goals early in the third period.
The Hawks took their first lead of the night at 2:50 of the third period on Kane's first goal since Game 6 against Vancouver in the second round. Kane took a pass from Jonathan Toews and beat goalie Michael Leighton on a breakaway.
But the lead lasted only 20 seconds, with Leino tying it again at 3:10 on a rebound.
"I think we lost momentum there right away (after Kane's goal) and didn't get a chance to play with the lead," Quenneville said.
"I don't think anyone was deflated," Flyers defenseman Chris Pronger said. "We just needed to bounce back. There was plenty of time left."
Like in Game 2 in Chicago, the Flyers dominated much of the final 15 minutes of the third period and outshot the Hawks 15-4.
"I thought we were pretty effective for the first 40 minutes," Quenneville said. "We were pretty good at the start of the third when we scored, then they scored on the following shift.
"We spent a lot of time in our end, not as bad as last game. I thought in overtime we had a couple good looks to end it."
Kris Versteeg had a wide-open shot from between the circles in OT but put his shot over the net.
Keith had a wide-open look from the midslot with 16 seconds to play in regulation, but his hard slap shot hit Leighton in the chest.
The Hawks survived a scare 5:02 into OT when Jeff Carter poked the puck through Antti Niemi and into the net after Simon Gagne hit the post, but the whistle had blown play dead. There was a video review, but only to see if Gagne's shot had gone in.
"This is a huge win," Giroux said. "I don't think we wanted to come back again from 3-0. The message was pretty clear before the game that we needed this."
The Flyers, remember, rallied to win their second-round series with Boston after dropping the first three games.
"Anytime we get adversity we find a way to get it done," Giroux said. "Guys really want to win."
The Hawks started well but faded late in the first period and began turning pucks over under pressure and lost some momentum.
A slashing penalty on Marian Hossa led to the only goal of the period by Danny Briere on a power play at 14:58.
Briere was alone on the left side to swat home a nice pass from Scott Hartnell after Troy Brouwer failed to clear the puck moments earlier.
An iffy penalty against Dustin Byfuglien at 9:44 of the second period for slashing Pronger resulted in the Flyers' second power-play goal and a 2-1 lead.
Pronger's shot was tipped by Scott Hartnell and trickled through Niemi and over the goal line. But play continued for more than a minute after Hawks defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson swept the puck away from the line. Only when a whistle finally halted play did a video review occur and the goal ruled good.
Quenneville doesn't believe Pronger is getting under the skin of Byfuglien.
"I think Buff is pretty composed," Quenneville said.
It looked as if the Flyers would get out of the second period with a 1-goal lead, but Sopel scored his first goal of the playoffs at 17:52 to tie it.
<p class="factboxheadblack">Tim Sassone's game tracker</p> <p class="News">Flyers 4, Blackhawks 3 (OT)</p> <p class="News"><b>Three stars</b></p> <p class="News">1. Claude Giroux, Flyers: Scored the winner in overtime and added 2 assists. </p> <p class="News">2. Chris Pronger, Flyers: Played 32 minutes and was plus-2 with an assist, 5 blocked shots and 3 hits. </p> <p class="News">3. Patrick Kane, Hawks: Had his best game of the Finals with a goal and assist. </p> <p class="News">H<b>eavy hitters</b></p> <p class="News">The Flyers outhit the Hawks just 40-31, but it was the guys in orange delivering most of the biggest ones.</p> <p class="News"><b>The quote</b></p> <p class="News">"It's a war out there. Everybody is going after everybody." - Blackhawks defenseman Brent Sopel</p> <div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Photo Galleries</h2> <ul class="gallery"> <li><a href="/story/?id=385322">Images of Blackhawks vs. Flyers, Game 3 </a></li> </ul> <h2>Stories</h2> <ul class="links"> <li><a href="/story/?id=385370"><b>ROZNER:</b> One single defeat not about to break Hawks' will to win<span class="date"> [6/2/10]</span></a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=385374">'Relentless pursuit of the Stanley Cup' still on for Flyers<span class="date"> [6/2/10]</span></a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=385364">Pronger figures out ways he can to push the envelope<span class="date"> [6/2/10]</span></a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=385341">Third-period breakaway ends Kane's goal drought<span class="date"> [6/2/10]</span></a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=385369">Hawks enjoy road challenge<span class="date"> [6/2/10]</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>