Hawks escape potential problems early, then roll

The final stats show the Blackhawks killed off all 3 penalties they committed Sunday night in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Finals.

That can't be overlooked in the Hawks' 7-4 triumph as Philadelphia entered the game converting 31 percent of its power-play chances in the Finals.

However, the stats don't show just how close the Flyers came to continuing their ridiculous extra-man prowess - sometimes with help from the Hawks.

The near-disasters began before the hosts launched their first-period assault on Flyers goalie Michael Leighton and the scoreboard.

After Dave Bolland was whistled for cross-checking Ville Leino near the net, the Hawks nearly fell victim to an own goal that could have crippled them psychologically.

Captain Mike Richards flipped a loose puck from the right-wing boards toward the crease. It looked like a harmless maneuver, but the puck bounced off Hawks defenseman Brent Sopel's left skate and headed toward the post.

If Antti Niemi hadn't slid to his left and deflected the ricochet at the last moment, the Flyers would have owned a 1-0 lead 10 minutes into a game the Hawks were dominating.

That didn't end the danger.

Thirty seconds later, Claude Giroux raked a shot toward the goal that deflected off heavy traffic and bounced directly to Danny Briere to Niemi's right.

Briere's shot looked like it beat Niemi's desperate slide to the right, but the puck banged off the side of the net.

Despite that pair of scary moments, the Hawks wound up killing Bolland's penalty without surrendering a shot that counted in the stats.

The Hawks tempted fate again after Brent Seabrook was sent off at the 9:51 mark of the second period for catching a puck while standing in the crease.

Just 16 seconds into Philadelphia's power play, Richards stood just outside the crease and had at least half of the net for an easy tap-in to cut the Hawks lead to 4-3.

Instead of shoving Simon Gagne's pass into the open net, Richards knocked into the middle and Niemi was able to slide over for the save.

As if to prove it wouldn't be the Flyers' day on the power play, a nearly identical situation occurred before the Hawks finished killing the penalty.

Brent Sopel had all day to clear a puck, but he fired it into Kimmo Timonen's gut along the boards. That turnover triggered a play that found Leino uncovered on the doorstep. As he waited for a pass, Niemi was completely out of the crease and Sopel tried to take his place.

When Gagne finally got Richards' pass on his stick, he pushed it wide left and the Hawks recovered.

Not only was it crucial for the Hawks to kill their penalties, they also needed to stop taking so many.

Entering Game 5, the Hawks had 18 two-minute penalties compared to the Flyers' 11 (excluding the 10-minute misconducts Chris Pronger and Ben Eager received after Game 2). Philadelphia was 5 of 16 on the power play compared to the Hawks' 1-for-9 showing.

The Flyers had 4 penalties to the Hawks' 3 in Game 5.