Byfuglien lives up to nickname

Maybe it was the bone-crushing hit that he put on Philadelphia's Kimmo Timonen and the referee at the same time.

Maybe it was the one against Ville Leino minutes later in the Blackhawks' end or perhaps the big bang he delivered against Public Enemy No. 1, Chris Pronger, delighting a delirious United Center throng.

Maybe it was his power play goal that gave the Hawks a 5-2 advantage.

Maybe it was his empty-netter in the final minutes that clinched a Game 5 victory Sunday night.

Whatever it was ... welcome back, Big Buff.

The player who was such a dominant force throughout the playoffs but had been fairly quiet in the first four games of the Stanley Cup Finals (1 assist), re-emerged big-time Sunday night.

"You could see the fire in his eyes before the game," Patrick Sharp said. "Not much needed to be said to him. We knew he was going to come out and skate like he did and use his big frame.

"When he's skating like that he's tough to handle for anybody."

That was certainly the case Sunday for the Flyers. How's this for a line: 2 goals, 2 assists and 9 big hits.

But the most important line? A 7-4 Blackhawks victory that now has them 1 win from a Stanley Cup title.

The victory Sunday comes on the heels of two straight road losses that had evened the series and left some Hawks fans wondering what the heck was going on.

But any lingering questions were answered early on when the Hawks stormed through the first 20 minutes like a team on a mission, and leading the way was Big Buff.

"We knew we had to come back with some fire and just get on them and show them that we weren't going to quit," Byfuglien said. "I was focused, ready and knew what I had to do."

Some thought that same focus, that same fire may have been missing earlier on in the series.

Byfuglien disagrees.

"I don't know if I really had gotten off my game," he said. "I just wasn't getting the bounces and the things that make me happy. I knew I had to come in and work hard and do the best I can to help the team."

His teammates were greatly appreciative, if not a little awestruck at the beast that emerged Sunday.

"He brought so much energy," Kris Versteeg said. "When he's moving his feet, hitting bodies like that, he's a hard guy to play against."

"I wouldn't want to play against him," Duncan Keith said. "A big guy like that coming hard at you ..."