Game 2 of Stanley Cup expected to set the tone

Nervous netminders, unstable defense and a frantic pace led to the highest scoring Finals contest in 18 years as Chicago outlasted Philadelphia 6-5 in the opener. Here was the weird part, not one of the acknowledged scoring stars for either team put any rubber on the back of the net. If they find the range will the goaltenders will feel like they playing in the NHL All-Star where nobody plays defense or takes a hit?

For the Flyers, Mike Richards, Jeff Carter and Simon Gagne all came up empty. “I thought we had good looks. We just didn’t score and did everything but,” Richards said Sunday.

The Blackhawks trio of players, Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane and Dustin Byfuglien, who have been domineering in the postseason, all took responsibility for their Game 1 actions. “I think all three of us know it’s not as much what they did as it was what we didn’t do on the ice,” Toews said.

Chicago might be 31-12 against good offensive teams scoring 2.85 or goals a game this season, but realize allowing five goals, let alone in the Stanley Cup Finals won’t lead to many victories.
“It was such a long week…… just to kind of treat it as just another game and we're playing hockey," Toews said Sunday. "But everyone knows what's at stake here, so it's tough not to get excited about it.”

I think both teams maybe realized that maybe a little bit too much last night. You could definitely see that there was definitely some jitters early on."

The Hawks were efficient in chasing Philly goalie Michael Leighton, scoring five times on 20 shots. With a day to digest the situation, both teams understand they have to play better defense and settle in.

"I think tomorrow's going to be a better game from our side and I think Philly's going to play better too, so it's probably going to be a pretty good game tomorrow, but I don't think it's going to be high-scoring," predicted Chicago defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson.

All the talk of holding serve and winning on home ice to force a game seven is nonsense, as teams down 2-0 in the Cup Finals end up winning less than 13 percent of the time.

"Well, I look at it as an opportunity to steal home ice and tomorrow's not a do-or-die situation by any means," said Flyers defenseman Matt Carle. "Win or lose, we're going to be ready to go for Game 3 back in our barn, but we certainly want to try and steal home ice and that's the objective." Philadelphia has won eight of last 10 and is 7-1 with one day between games.

"Every loss is big in the playoffs. I'm not going to lie about that," said Danny Briere, who was outstanding in opener with four points. "But at the same time, coming in, everybody was talking how good the Blackhawks were. And not too many people -- I haven't heard anybody giving us a chance to win this series.

"What I liked is, [Saturday] night; we proved we belong with them. You know, maybe not to all the hockey experts, but in our room, I think we realize we can play and we can stretch the series and definitely come back in it."

Though Game 1 was fun and entertaining, a truer read on each team will be given Monday evening. Are the Blackhawks as good as many said coming into the series or does the Flyers grit and uncompromising determination matter more?

Online sports betting outlets have Chicago as -190 money line favorite with total U6 and they are 18-3 and 15-6 OVER off a home win scoring four or more goals this season. Philadelphia has lost 11 of 16 as a road underdog since Jan 16 and is 5-0 UNDER as the visitor after a road game where both teams score three or more goals this campaign.

The second confrontation of the Finals has an 8:00 start on NBC.