One Game For The One Goal

We're so close.  So very, very close.  The Chicago Blackhawks are one single game away from ending the NHL's longest Stanley Cup drought at 49 years, winning Game 5 of the 2010 Final to take a 3-2 lead going into tomorrow night's all-important Game 6.  After two disappointing losses in Philadelphia, the Hawks came out and did nothing special except play their best period of hockey in the playoffs, and maybe the entire year.  Just pure and total domination.  The Hawks with their reshuffled lines were simply flying, and Philly had no answer.  We jumped out to a 3-0 lead after one, and it could have been much worse if not for a couple admirable saves by Michael Leighton, who eventually was pulled in favor of Brian Boucher.  Seabrook, Versteeg, Sharp, Kane, and Byfuglien (who had two) all scored for the Hawks, who just blew the Flyers out of the water with seven goals, upping their home total to 15 in three games.  This was the first time in the series the Hawks played their game, and the Flyers just couldn't stay with them.  

ONE MORE

• Hey! Chris Pronger got called for a penalty! It's amazing how much he can get away with time after time, no matter how many times the NBC crew makes a point of showing all the illegal shit he gets away with.  By the way, I'm sure you've heard, but Pronger was a -5, definitely one of the worst games of his career.  He was on the ice for 6 of the Hawks' goals, and was sitting in the sin bin for the seventh.  
• Fittingly, the man who scored that goal while Pronger was sitting in the box was Dustin Byfuglien, who had no less than a monster night.  He had two goals and two assists, and some monstrous hits, including the biggest one on Pronger that many NHL experts had ever seen.  
• Amazingly, this was the second 11 goal game in this Final.  Just astounding offensive numbers being put up, perhaps aided by the mediocre at best goaltending on both sides.
• The powerplay really, really looked a lot better. The Hawks capitalized twice, but the Byfuglien one was a true thing of beauty.  Every single Hawk on the ice other than Niemi touched the puck, and the tic-tac-toe from Sharp to Toews to Big Buff was sublime.  
• Niemi, speaking of which, did what was needed to get the W.  He wasn't at his best, and hasn't played all that well in this series.  But all that means he's due for a great performance, as we've seen him bounce back from subpar efforts time and time again this spring.
• The shuffled lines really payed dividends.  Splitting up Kane and Toews was coming no matter what, but I loved Q splitting those two and Buff totally, putting one on three different lines.  By doing this, he forces Laviolette's and Pronger's hands: who do you match #20 up against? Is it the pairing of Toews and Hossa on the first line, which is just kinda unfair? Against Buff on the third line with Bolland and Versteeg? Or against the dynamic Sharp/Kane/Ladd combo? He picked Toews most of the time, and that line was held to only a single point, an assist by the Captain.  But the other lines prospered, with Buff having a monster night and Kane playing his best game of the series by a longshot.  These lines will stay the same, and for that reason, I think the Hawks will have a better chance tomorrow at the Wachovia Center than in either Game 3 or 4.
• Coverage in the defensive zone still needs to get better, as the Flyers stayed within shouting distance thanks to some shoddy clearing attempts by Hawks D-men.  Fix this.

Tomorrow night is going to be the toughest game of the year for the Blackhawks.  Philly's gonna come ready to play, make no mistake about it.  Lord Stanley will be in the building for the first time all series, but the Hawks cannot let their minds wander.  A big key will be scoring first - after Game 5, the Hawks are now 10-1 when leading after two periods, so grabbing a lead, silencing the crowd, and taking the momentum will be huge in this pivotal game.  The Flyers, as they've demonstrated on multiple occasions this spring, just will not die, so it's gonna be up to the Hawks to apply the killing blow.  We've learned a lot about the makeup and leadership of this team in the past two months or so, and it's going to be tested at least one more time.  We've already closed out Nashville and Vancouver this spring in road Game 6's, but this will be the toughest test yet.  By far.  As Sam Jackson says in Jurassic Park, "Hold onto your butts."