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Flyers Playoff Gameday: Game 1 vs. Blackhawks |
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(MINI-PREVIEW 9 AM)
The time for hype and pre-series analysis is over. The Stanley Cup Finals are here, and the Philadelphia Flyers and Chicago Blackhawks stand four wins away from the sport's most coveted and storied prize. In Game 1, I would look for both clubs to start a little cautiously in the first period, both because of nerves and because of their long layoffs since wrapping up the Conference Finals.
Both the Flyers and Blackhawks sport 7-1 records in playoff games in which they've scored first. The Flyers are 5-4 when giving up the game's first goal, while Chicago is 5-3.
Often in the first game of a series, special teams can look out of sync for clubs that have had lengthy layoffs from their last game. We'll see if that happens. Up to this point the Blackhawks have clicked on the powerplay at a 22.6% clip to the Flyers 20.7% success rate. On the penalty kill, the Flyers have been successful killing 67 of 77 disadvantages (87.0%). Mike Richards scored the team's lone shorthanded goal to this point in the clinching game against Montreal. Chicago has killed 58 of 67 penalties (86.6%) and scored 3 shorthanded goals (Patrick Kane, ex-Flyer Patrick Sharp and Dave Bolland).
In any playoff series, goalies can ill-afford to allow any soft goals, and that will be especially true in this evenly matched series. The pressure will be on Michael Leighton and Antti Niemi tonight to make the opposition earn everything they get. It's not just how many goals you give up, it's when and how they're scored that often swings the momentum.
Today's
Daily Drop at Versus.com looks at these factors as well as three other keys to the game for both clubs.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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