Flyers lose Game 1 shootout
Blackhawks 6, Flyers 5
Flyers lose Game 1 shootout
Rich Hofmann, Daily News Sports Columnist
CHICAGO -- "Wild" does not begin to describe the evening. "Wide-open" does not do the action justice. As someone ducking his head into the press box said last night, "Yeah, we all knew we were at the Stanley Cup Final -- but little did we know that it was the 1987 Stanley Cup Final."
But it was like that. It was every bit of that. And because the Blackhawks got the last goal -- by Tomas Kopecky, in the third period -- the Flyers' springtime of resilience will now be tested again. The final score was Blackhawks 6, Flyers 5. And it really was that wild.
Eleven goals -- and none of them were scored by the first-line players on either team, who canceled each other out and left the circus to everyone else.
Where to begin? The Flyers led by 3-2 after the first period, and that was the most goals scored in the opening period of a Stanley Cup Final in 28 years. The Flyers dominated in many ways, outshooting the Blackhawks by 17-9, but the Blackhawks can be devastating on the rush. They weren't able to sustain a lot of offensive possession time, but they made their chances count.
"I think everybody was a little bit nervous, fighting the puck," Danny Briere said. "With the atmosphere in the building it is not easy to control but it's good to have that lead."
To run through a description of all of the goals would be to re-write "War and Peace." Suffice it to say that neither goaltender was all that great, or all that well-supported. Both Antti Niemi of the Blackhawks and Michael Leighton of the Flyers gave them up in about every way you can give them up -- and, when the Blackhawks made it 5-4 at 15:18 of the second period on a shot by Troy Brouwer over Leighton's glove, Flyers coach Peter Laviolette had seen enough. Out came Leighton and in came Brian Boucher -- who hadn't played or dressed since spraining both knees in a crease pileup in Game 5 against Boston, on May 10th.
"You know sometimes you just feel bad," Gagne said, in an interview after the second period. "It's not Michael's fault. It's maybe our fault. We kind of left him by himself a couple times on a lot of those goals, so you feel bad for him and we're going to try to go back in and win the game for him."
Here is how the procession of Flyers goal-scorers went to that pont: Ville Leino, Scott Hartnell, Briere and Blair Betts, of all people. Hartnell had a great, active first period. Defenseman Chris Pronger had two assists in the first period and played an enormous 11 minutes, 45 seconds. But it was back and forth and then it was forth and back and it was 5-4 in favor of the Blackhawks when Boucher came in. Then, about 3 1/2 minutes later, it was 5-5 when Arron Asham scored his fourth goal of the playoffs (Briere and Hartnell each getting their second assists of the night).
And that's where it stood, going to the third period. And now, first and foremost, Laviolette will be asked questions about his goaltender for Game 2.
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Where did Mike Milbury get that huge head? Makes Barry Bonds look like he has microcephaly. Must be some sort of record.— dasher- The Flyers are in fine shape. This is just where we want to be. Chi was thinking we were lightweights. Now they're aware we are actually a bit better than them. They HAVE to win on Monday or it's over. On the other hand if we do lose again we'll still take 4 of the next 5. Put your bets down now. It's a done deal.— LuckyDog
No sweat boys, we just need to tighten the D and keep playing our game. Chicago knew they were in a game, and we sure shut down the stadium noise a few times. I liked what I saw!— Eagle1Vegas- lavy needs to not give up the points,this is chicago not like any other defense they faced,you cant always have 5 men collapse,and carcillo is a player ready made to play against chi.— billy jack
- Chicago scored a lot of goals that they wouldn't get in future games when Leighton settles down. Flyers carried the play most of the night, and had some shaky coverage down low. The ice was horrid in this game and it hurt the Flyers skill. Contrary to what a lot of people think, the Flyers have a lot more skill than the Hawks. Settle in for a long series kids!!— Hexy4GM
- Where was Conn Smythe candidate Michael Leighton in this game? You stupid Flyers fans can spin this anyway you want. Bottom line is that you guys are down 1-0. But hey, at least you still have Rocky Balboa. Losers.— honk
- where's garth snow when we need him!!!— mightyonk
- Tonka is right. Series is over. Flyers showed just how GREAT they are even when they have a bad game. Hawks played the best game of their year and just inched us out. I haven't felt this confident since I watched Bos play the first 3 games against us and saw them get more scared each game as they saw just how good the Flyers are this year. Chi KNOWS it has to win on Monday, and they are nervous about it. We, on the other hand, will be playing loose. This will be easier than I first thought. This is our year. Go Flyers.— LuckyDog
- Leighton bounces back after bad games. And that's the one silver lining, that the Flyers can, in fact play a lot better than this.— Holst16
- "We haven't won a friggin game in the Finals since Game 6 in '87 while Genesis was playing next door at the Vet. Maybe Phil Collins should sing the National Anthem on Wednesday." How about he sings in Chicago instead so we don't have to hear him? By the way, the Hawks hadn't won a finals game since 1973 until last night so stop your whining. We don't care. This is OUR time. You are just lucky to be here for it.— parsons51
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- St.Patrick33 why are you still hanging around? The child molesting Micks on the Bruins last to the Flyers after being up threee games to none. What a Frigging DISGRACE the Bruin team is, and by extension, a pedophile mick like you. I think you're doing Tonka: maybe he gives a reach-around, huh?— rjsmith
- To ANYONE with a negative comment about the FLYERS at THIS point of the season, i.e., the STANLEY CUP FINALS, I can only say "MORON." Go Flyers - What An Amazing Run!— PhillyTheKid
