Coaches question a few Game 5 plays
Neither Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville nor Flyers boss Peter Laviolette were enamored of the work of referees Bill McCreary and Dan O'Halloran in Game 5.
Quenneville thought there should have been a penalty when Brian Campbell got clipped in the face with a stick, while Laviolette said Duncan Keith should have received at least four minutes for a high stick on Danny Briere in the third period that left the Flyers' center bloodied.
"I thought it was a penalty," said Laviolette, who refused to say Monday if Briere would be OK to play in Game 6. "At first glance, I almost thought it was intentional. The puck wasn't even around.
"Looking at it again, it should have been a four-minute penalty. You have to be in control of your stick out there. (It was) dangerously close to a severe eye injury.
"They told me that it was a follow-through on the puck. I'm not sure I understood the call."
Quenneville didn't want to hear of the Flyers' beef with the no-call on Keith.
"I'm not getting too much into the officiating," Quenneville said. "I know we looked over the first four games. I think Soupy might have had the same high stick and he was cut, too. Apples and oranges. At the end of the day it probably came out (as a) wash."
Lighting it up: There have been 40 goals scored in the first five games of the Stanley Cup Finals, which is OK with Joel Quenneville as long as the Hawks keep getting most of them.
"There's been a lot of goals in this series," the Hawks' coach said. "They just seem to be going in whether they're deflections or fortunate bounces around the net. They've been going to the right guys or wrong guys, whichever way you're looking at it.
"I think both teams are capable of scoring. I don't think we envisioned scoring at the rate we're scoring at. I think the thing I always try is to stress with our team is defense first in our approach.
"I still think that's an area where we can enhance and solidify going into the next game and try to be a little bit airtight around our net."
Certainly no lead has been safe.
"I think both teams are very respectful for the opposition's offense and the threats they pose," Quenneville said. "And especially when you're down, all of a sudden you're just going for it. It can enhance the quality of the offense.
"But at the same time we want to make sure we try to slow it down with any leads we do have. That's easier said than done right now."
Scotty knows: This would be another Stanley Cup for Hawks senior adviser Scotty Bowman, whose influence is everywhere.
Joel Quenneville said he has picked Bowman's brain as often as possible in the playoffs.
"We always talk strategy with Scotty," Quenneville said. "He always has some good ideas, things sometimes you don't think about.
"I'll sit with him on the plane. I sat with him on the plane coming back from Philly and I'll sit with him (today). He's in the room a lot. He's always visiting with good ideas, good suggestions. I think he's a great guy to have around to keep things in perspective."
Quenneville was asked if it was Bowman's suggestion to juggle the lines for Game 5.
"I don't know if it was Scotty's," Quenneville said. "We did it in the course of the game (in Game 4). I think we all knew that we had to mix them up."
About time: The Hawks' power play came through with 2 big goals in the 7-4 win in Game 5 after going 1-for-9 in the first four games.
"Well, it's the first time I think we have had consecutive power plays in the same period," Joel Quenneville said. "It's nice to see us get some production and give our power-play some confidence, knowing that it could be the differential going forward."