Going into the Stanley Cup Final a lot was made about the Talent and Scoring of these two teams' top lines. On Chicago's side Toews Byfuglien and Kane were making top headlines everyday, Toews especially with his hunt for the Hawks all time postseason points record, set by Denis Savard back in 85. The Flyers weren't chasing any records but instead were breaking them by being the only the 3rd team in history to come back from down 3-0, this charge was led by their top scorers in Gagne and Richards.
However 4 games into the Cup Finals the top 2 lines have a combined 4 goals. not that big of a deal except there have been a total of 29 goals scored. So if the Top Guns aren't doing it then who is? The answer is the depth scorers. The key to any elongated playoff run is to get goal scoring from all ends of the offensive spectrum, and these two teams have that down pat.
The Flyers second line of Briere Hartnell and Leino have now comibined for 7 goals and have scored 3 in one game twice. Yesterday Leino got his 7th of the postseason, a new Flyers record for postseason goals as a rookie. While Briere leads the team in goals with 11 this postseason, and Hartnell has had a postseason good enough to forget his regular season, he has 14 points in 21 games after heating up versus Boston. Claude Giroux scored the game winner in Game 3 and then turned around to score his 10th goal in Game 4.
Chicago has relied on the sporatic scoring of the bottom liners. Troy Brouwer after only scoring 2 goals going into the Finals scored 2 in Game 1. That same game when Andrew Ladd was scratched due to an ijury Tomas Kopecky stepped up and got the Game winner. In Game 2 it was former Flyer Ben Eager who got the game winner late in the second with a great wrister over Leighton's glove. Game 3 Brent Sopel tallied his 1st of the playoffs to tie the game at 2.
The main story for Chicago is David Bolland after only playing 36 games in the Regular season and scoring 6 goals, he's played great in the postseason and scored his 7th in Game 4. After settling in to a offensive third line role for the Hawks he's been on a role.
Flyers Top scorers somewhat broke out in Game 4 though scoring 2 of the Flyers 5 goals. After scoring just one in the last 3 games. Richy scored the first goal and set the tone, while Carter put the icing on the cake and tapped in an empty netter. (Sounds like game 5 versus Montreal.) However the chemistry still isn't flowing, it could be because of the tight Chicago Defense or just a lack of cohesiveness.
Chicago's top line has been quite an issue for the Hawks, only 1 goal in 4 games. When Toews hooked up with Kane in the 3rd period of Game 3 many thought they were about to go off. But in Game 4 the line showed no momentum, as they were a combined -6.
-Stat Breakdown-
Toews: Entering the leagues top scorer only has put up 1 assist, -3
Kane: Has been the most productive with 1 goal, 2 assists, -6
Byfuglien: Call him Big Bluff, with all the hype. He's put up: 1 assist, -3
Richards: Flyers captain has had a poor offensive showing. 1 goal 1 assist, -4
Gagne: Flyers most key scorer in this run, 1 goal, -5
Carter: after scoring 2 to seal off Montreal he put up 1 goal 1 assist, -5
-Analysis-
If these two lines break out this series will some how get even better than it has been already. But the main cause to this slumping has been the Solid play of the Defense. Chris Pronger has done a grea job of shutting down Toews on the boards and Byfuglien in front. While Duncan Ketih has broken up countless plays and blocked many shots by that top Flyers lines. Good defensive play has been the storyline for these horrendous showings from the Top Guns.
No comments:
Post a Comment