CHICAGO — Marian Hossa and Ben Eager scored in a 28-second span late in the second period to give the Chicago Blackhawks a 2-0 lead over the Philadelphia Flyers in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup finals on Monday night.
Hossa gave the Blackhawks the lead, knocking in the rebound after Michael Leighton stopped a wrist shot by Patrick Sharp. The goal was his third of the playoffs and first since May 5, when the Blackhawks beat Vancouver 5-2 in Game 3 of the second round.
The crowd was still roaring when Eager beat Leighton glove side from just behind the circle for his first playoff goal — and his first overall since April 7.
The goals were a stunning setback for Leighton, who had stood his ground before that after getting pulled in Game 1, when he gave up five goals on 20 shots in a 6-5 loss to the Blackhawks.
Chicago’s Antti Niemi looked sharp through the first two periods, stopping 18 shots. He even drew an “Ant-ti! Ant-ti!” chant after a nifty glove save on Arron Asham’s one-timer with about 5½ minutes left in the second.
After tying an NHL record with five goals in the first period of Game 1, this time the teams were exchanging angry words and hits instead of goals.
The Flyers’ Daniel Carcillo was back after being held out the past three games, on the first line alongside Michael Richards and Jeff Carter. It didn’t take long for things to heat up.
Carcillo tried to run into Chicago’s Tomas Kopecky but wound up flattening Carter instead, to the fans’ delight. The cameras caught Carcillo yelling at the Blackhawks’ bench a few minutes later and he wound up with an unsportsmanlike penalty late in the period.
Carter and Jonathan Toews also had a heated exchange with just under three minutes left in the first, after Toews tried to knock in a loose puck with just under three minutes left. He wound up swatting Leighton in the back of the leg with his stick.
In Game 1, the Flyers outshot Chicago 17-9 in taking a 3-2 lead into the first intermission. Things were considerably tighter Monday as Chicago outshot Philadelphia 9-3 in the first — and the Blackhawks got their first power play of the finals, 74 minutes and 48 seconds into the series.
After two periods, Chicago had outshot the Flyers 22-18.
The Flyers didn’t have a good scoring opportunity until Richards broke free about 7½ minutes into the second, but Niemi stopped him with his right blocker. He also had a big glove save on Carcillo’s slap shot midway through the period.
Both teams are looking to end lengthy championship droughts.
The last time the Blackhawks won it all, Bobby Hull and Stan Mikita led the way in 1961. Coach Joe Quenneville was just a toddler back then, but with a deep team led by young stars like Toews and Patrick Kane, they have a chance to end that drought.
They finished second in the Western Conference during the regular season and continued to strengthen a bond with fans that was broken not too long ago.
For Philadelphia, the road to the finals was not an easy one.
They withstood a coaching change, a slew of injuries during the regular season and postseason, and had to win a play-in game just to make the playoffs. Then, they fell behind 3-0 in the series and in Game 7 before rallying to beat Boston in the conference semifinals.
So they weren’t too down on themselves after dropping the opener, even if the Game 1 winner has sipped the cup 54 of the 70 times, according to the NHL.
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