CHICAGO - When it comes to the Stanley Cup final, Philadelphia Flyers coach Peter Laviolette has a novel idea.
It’s an idea his Flyers need to grasp in the face of the potential end of their season heading into Game 6 Wednesday night, down 3-2 in the best-of-seven series to the Chicago Blackhawks.
The ’Hawks put themselves in position to win their first Stanley Cup since 1961 with a convincing 7-4 win in Game 5.
“You have to give the Blackhawks credit. They played a good hockey game (Sunday) night. They came out. They had the jump on us. Again, it’s one game,” said Laviolette.
“If you look at the final, it’s like a novel and there could be seven chapters in it and each chapter is its own story. (Sunday) night in chapter 5, they were probably happy with what they did and we were not. It moves on to another day and another chapter. Our team will be ready to give it.”
It would be foolish to write the Flyers off even with the way they were outplayed in Game 5, falling behind 3-0 in the first period.
Their spring has been all about comebacks. They had a 3-0 series deficit against the Boston Bruins in the second round and become only the third team in NHL history to come out of that hole.
They bounced back from a 2-0 deficit in this series, winning Games 3 and 4 at the Wachovia Center, the setting for Wednesday night’s Game 6.
Some line shuffling by Chicago coach Joel Quenneville paid off for the ’Hawks, but now with the move back to Philly, Laviolette will have the last line change. That isn’t going to help unless his team shows up in a somewhat better frame of mind than Sunday.
“I have no question that we’ll respond. It was not a good game for us. Again, you don’t want to make excuses for it. There’s no reason to have a game like that, certainly not under the circumstances. Chicago ramped up their game. It comes down to that first period. They scored three goals. They took advantage of us in the first period and got on the board. We didn’t respond to it,” said Laviolette.
“You go back to the Montreal series, where in Game 3, I think we have had a couple of tough games in these entire playoffs. I stated such. I haven’t sugarcoated it. Montreal Game 3 was a tough game for us. So the question is, how could you possibly respond after that game like that? Well, we did. That’s why I have a lot of confidence in our group that we will respond (Wednesday) night appropriately.”
After pulling goaltender Michael Leighton after that first period in favour of Brian Boucher, Laviolette said he had decided who would start Game 6, but wouldn’t reveal it until he had spoken to the players.
It’s hard to believe he wouldn’t come back with Leighton, who is 2-0 at home in this final with a .918 save percentage.
NOTES: Like just about everybody else who saw it, Laviolette thought the high stick by Chicago’s Duncan Keith on Philly’s Daniel Briere - which cut the Flyers forward for about a dozen stitches - should have been a penalty. “At first glance, I almost thought it was intentional. The puck wasn’t even around. Looking at it again, it should have been a four-minute penalty,” said Laviolette. “You have to be in control of your stick out there. (It) was dangerously close to a severe eye injury. They told me that it was a follow-through on the puck. I’m not sure I understood the call.”...There was also a high stick by Philly’s Simon Gagne on Chicago’s Brian Campbell that went uncalled. “I think Soupy might have had the same high stick and he was cut too. Apples and oranges,” said Quenneville. “At the end of the day it probably came out in the wash.”...Flyers forward Ville Leino is two points behind Dino Ciccarelli’s playoff scoring record for a rookie. Ciccarelli had 14 goals and seven assists for 21 points for the Minnesota North Stars in 1981. Leino has seven goals and 12 assists. Don Maloney had 20 points for the New York Rangers in 1979...After the home teams had a 35-39 record in the first two rounds, they have bounced back in the conference finals and Stanley Cup final with an 11-3 mark.
