Stanley Cup Finals: Blackhawks take two game lead
After the 6-5 goal fest in game one many thought that perhaps a repeat was on the cards in game two. That wasn’t the case however, as we got was the complete opposite.
The Chicago Blackhawks, led by goaltender Antti Niemi, took a stranglehold in the Stanley Cup Finals on Monday night beating the Philadelphia Flyers 2-1 to take a 2-0 series lead.
It was Niemi’s heroics in goal which gave the Blackhawks a solid foundation the whole night as he made save after save, putting Chicago in the best position possible as the series moves to Philadelphia.
The Fin came up clutch making 14 of his 32 saves in the third period but it was his defence which Niemi credited for his performance.
"I think our 'D' played maybe a little bit better in front of the net in blocking shots and letting me see the puck. But it's always a little bit about the luck, too, how you see the puck, and how it bounces,” Niemi said.
Even the Flyers’ head coach Peter Laviolette credited Niemi with a great performance after he blocked everything apart from Simon Gagne’s power-play goal in the third.
"I thought their goaltender played extremely well in the third period. We had more than enough looks to tie up that game," Laviolette said.
Chicago had taken the lead in the second period when Marian Hossa and Ben Eager scored 28 seconds apart, sending the crowd into rapture. Add that to Niemi’s performance and you get a crowd chanting so loud Niemi’s post match interview on the ice was nearly drowned out.
The 26-year-old is playing his first NHL season and has already recorded a play-off record of 14-4 and if he continues to play like he did on Monday night the Blackhawks could be on their way to winning their first Stanley Cup in 49 years.
But the Flyers won’t be too concerned about being down 2-0 in the series. They were down 3-0 against the Boston Bruins and managed to rally back to take the series in seven games. What is worrying for the Flyers is in game one they had three leads, didn’t receive a penalty, held Chicago’s top line scoreless and still managed to lose.
Home teams that have won the first two games in the Stanley Cup finals have a 31-2 record but the Penguins did it last year against the Red Wings, so why can’t the Flyers do it this year? Only time will tell.
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