Ryan brings us a TGIF edition of Morning Skate and it may be hot enough today for the Splashdown Pool!
Stanley Cup Final – Game 4
Chicago Blackhawks @ Philadelphia Flyers
8:00 ET… TV: VERSUS, CBC
Blackhawks lead series, 2-1
Players to watch:
CHI- Duncan Keith
Keith logged the most minutes for Chicago on Wednesday – by far – and has to have another strong two-way game.
PHI- Danny Briere
After an inconsistent series vs. Montreal, Briere has woken up here against Chicago.
Keys to the game:
CHI- Win special teams battle… If the ‘Hawks want a chance to win the Cup on home-ice on Sunday, they must step up on special teams. They surrendered two power play goals in Game 3, and couldn’t strike on their man advantage.
PHI- Get off to fast start… I’m expecting an even bigger effort tonight out of Chicago; so Philly may want to fly out of the gates and feed off the crowd to take an early one- or two-goal lead.
Starting Goaltenders:
CHI- Antti Niemi (Playoff stats: 14-5, 2.48 GAA)
PHI- Michael Leighton (Playoff stats: 7-2, 2.06 GAA)
Injury Report:
CHI- Andrew Ladd (undisclosed, questionable), Kim Johnsson (concussion, out)
PHI- Ray Emery (hip, out)
Game Thoughts:
If you think Game 3 was good… just wait until tonight! This will be the game where we see both teams at their finest. Philly will play desperate to knot the series at two apiece; on the other hand, Chicago is going to put forth a 60-minute effort. For Philly, the thing that may worry me is that they have played as good as they can (and probably should have a 2-1 lead). But Chicago hasn’t quite found their game, yet still winning the series. The first ten minutes of this game are going to be crucial. The longer it is tied or within one goal, the more I like the Hawks’ chances. It’s going to be a battle between two desperate clubs… I give a slight edge to the Blackhawks to pull this one out. That said, it can really go either way!
Prediction: Blackhawks 3, Flyers 2
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