Blackhawks love position they're in

PHILADELPHIA - Winning the Stanley Cup never is easy.

Certainly the Blackhawks are finding that out.

But while the Hawks were disappointed by Wednesday's 4-3 overtime loss to the Flyers in Game 3, they still lead the Stanley Cup Finals 2-1 and love the position they're in heading to Game 4 on Friday at the Wachovia Center.

"Obviously we're in a great spot," Hawks defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson said.

"We plan on winning (today) and that would be a great thing to be up 3-1. We're going to do everything we can to have a different ending than the last game."

Having the puck more is vital to the Hawks winning Game 4.

The Flyers' aggressiveness all over the ice in the last two games has made it difficult for the Hawks to get their offense started in terms of puck possession, particularly in the attack zone.

"We did a lot of things better (Wednesday), but there still are little things we can improve on," Jonathan Toews said.

So far the Flyers have done a good job keeping the line of Toews, Patrick Kane and Dustin Byfuglien in check. It starts with Chris Pronger on defense, but the line of Danny Briere, Scott Hartnell and Ville Leino also has played very well against the Toews line.

That line has scored 6 of Philadelphia's 10 goals in the series.

"We've been most of the time against the Toews line and we've been spending most of the time in their end," Hartnell said. "A good defense is a great offense. I think (Hawks coach Joel) Quenneville maybe wanted that matchup at the start of the series and I don't know if he's rethinking that or what."

All playoffs the Hawks have rebounded from tough losses by concentrating on what they have to do instead of worrying about what the opposition is doing.

"We'll give (Pronger) credit and their players credit for playing well defensively against some of our top players, but it's always been about us and how we can play better," Toews said. "It's all about overcoming adversity and overcoming the obstacles and just finding a way.

"We're very happy to be up 2-1 after three games and we look at the situation as one that there's a lot of things to be optimistic about. I know there's still more I have to do out there. Noting is going to be easy and it'll be much more enjoyable when things go your way knowing you worked extra hard for it."

Getting a power-play goal would help. The Hawks are 0-for-6 in the series while allowing the Flyers to score four times with the man advantage.

"That's another thing that could put us over the top, I think," Toews said.

"We need to get more pucks to the net," Byfuglien said.

"We haven't got set up and got the right bounces. We've got to keep going and we'll get it."

The Flyers are aggressive on the penalty kill, making it especially hard for Kane to find the room he likes to have against the half wall.

Philadelphia has killed 27 of the last 28 power plays against going back to the last round against Montreal.

"I thought we had some good chances," Kane said. "The biggest thing is movement. We have to move our feet and move the puck. We've had some good looks."

Flyers coach Peter Laviolette sees two confident teams heading into Game 4.

"There is a lot of confidence in our room right now and Chicago is the same way," Laviolette said.

"That's why you're seeing really good hockey. They have confidence in what they're doing, they believe in it and they play it with a purpose.

"The hockey has been fast and furious out there. It's been hard hitting and hard skating."