The Stanley Cup Finals are Off to an Outrageous Start
Game 1 was so good Saturday night that I actually never wanted it to end. A total of eleven goals were scored – six in the first period alone – in a game the Chicago Blackhawks would eventually win 6-5 to take a 1-0 series lead over the Philadelphia Flyers.
I'm certain there's one goal, just one little goal, the Flyers would like back. It happened at the 11:50 mark of the 1st period. It's the kind of goal that could haunt a person, or team, for the rest of their life. Dave Bolland dumped in an unassisted shorthanded goal, which, at the time, gave the Blackhawks a 2-1 lead. Didn't I just write about the cardinal sin of giving up unassisted shorthanded goals? Anyway, that one little goal back could have sent the game into overtime, where the Flyers damn sure would have taken their chances in an opening game on the road.
Game 2 was equally awesome but for entirely different reasons, sort of. There were nowhere near eleven goals scored. In fact, there were only three goals in the entire game. However, we’ve got to take a hard look at Flyers' keeper, Michael Leighton.
Things were going great for him and his team until the 17:37 mark of the 2nd period. I say the 17:37 mark because that was the 2nd goal given up by Leighton in :28 seconds. At the 17:09 mark, Martin Hossa dumped in a two-assist goal to give the Blackhawks the lead at 1-0. Just :28 seconds later Ben Eager scored his first goal of the post season, which ultimately was the game winning goal. Simon Gagne did manage to dump one in for the Flyers in the 3rd period, but it was too little, too late.
So, the series now heads to Philly with the Blackhawks up 2-0 in the series, need to win only two of the next five games to win the 2010 Stanley Cup. All I can say is thank God for DISH HD channels. When it's hockey season it’s time to really get into the action. Let's just hope it gets a little more competitive. If the Flyers expect to have any shot at all at the Cup, Michael Leighton is going to have to spend some time, maybe standing in the corner, thinking about what he can do to make that goal mouth as small as possible.
