CHICAGO // Home ice, juggled lines and balanced scoring got the Chicago Blackhawks on a roll. Their stars showed up, especially Dustin Byfuglien, and now the Stanley Cup is one victory from their grasp. Byfuglien, bumped from the top line, had two goals and two assists on Sunday night to lead a 7-4 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers, giving the Blackhawks a 3-2 lead in the series.
Chicago can capture the Stanley Cup for the first time since 1961 with a victory tomorrow night in Philadelphia. A Flyers win would send the series back to Chicago for a decisive Game 7 on Friday night. All five wins in the series have come on home ice. "We're not going to think about that now. We have to keep level-headed and go into that building with the same mindset and have fun," Chicago's Kris Versteeg said.
Patrick Kane, who was also moved from the top line by Joel Quenneville, the coach, had a goal and an assist, but said Byfuglien was the key. "He was a force and had some big hits, one on [Chris] Pronger I think everyone remembers," Kane said. Byfuglien, who had eight goals in the first three rounds of the play-offs but none in the first four games against the Flyers, had a power-play goal in the second period and added an empty-netter in the closing seconds.
"We had to come back with some fire and get on them and show them we weren't going to quit," Byfuglien said. "Right from the get-go we moved our feet and were physical." The line of Byfuglien, Kane and Jonathan Toews had been effective earlier in the play-offs, was split up, a strategy that worked for Quenneville. They had combined for just one goal and four assists in the first four meetings with Philly.
"We had to change things up. We didn't really have time to sit and think about who we were playing with. It was kind of like the last second," Byfuglien said. "All year we've mixed the lines around, and everyone has really played with everyone. So it wasn't a real big thing. It was just going out there and playing together as a team and moving our feet and doing the right things." The Blackhawks were also more physical than they had been in losing Games 3 and 4.
The stat sheet gave Philadelphia a wide margin in hits delivered, 45-35, but credit the Blackhawks with getting in twice as many quality shots. "The way it worked out, we had some big boys on each line," John Madden, the Chicago centre, said. "And it's funny how a little more grunt work freed up so much skating room. "But all that physical play won't mean much if we don't go into Philly with the same intensity. They're going to treat Game 6 like it was Game 7. We better be able to match that."
Brent Seabrook added a power-play goal for Chicago, and Dave Bolland, Versteeg and Patrick Sharp also scored. Scott Hartnell, Kimmo Timonen, James van Riemsdyk and Simon Gagne scored for the Flyers. Gagne's goal with 2:36 left made it 6-4, but a half-minute later Byfuglien converted the empty-netter. "We've got to go back home now and start all over," Ville Leino, the Flyers forward, said. "I think we were ready. We were a little too ready. I think we were a little nervous. Nobody wanted the puck. We didn't make plays. We were just giving it to the net. We've got to be smarter and work harder."
The Blackhawks blitzed Michael Leighton, the goalie, with three goals in the final 7:43 of the first period as Chicago quickly found the offensive game that had helped it make the finals. "We were slow. We turned a lot of pucks over. Where we had all our success in this series was not turning the pucks over, getting the puck in deep," Mike Richards, the Flyers captain, said. "We just didn't have a physical presence as we did the last couple of games."
Leighton was pulled - for the second time in the series, in favour of Brian Boucher - after giving up three goals on 13 shots in the first period. "We weren't very good in the first period," said Peter Laviolette, the Flyers coach. Aggressive from the outset, shooting from all angles, getting the puck through the neutral zone and being able to keep their own end clear, the Blackhawks were in control early after two losses in Philadelphia that appeared to swing the momentum in the Flyers' favour.
* AP