Stanley Cup Final – Game 6
Chicago Blackhawks @ Philadelphia Flyers
8:00 ET… TV: NBC, CBC
Blackhawks lead series, 3-2
Players to watch:
CHI- Dave Bolland
Bolland has been an x-factor all series, and will need to have another strong two-way game.
PHI- Chris Pronger
Pronger arguably had the worst game of his career with a minus-5 rating. Yeah… that’s not going to happen again. He will make a 180-turn tonight.
Keys to the game:
CHI- Spread-out contribution… Joel Quenneville made great adjustments to the lines in Game 5, by splitting up the top line into three separate lines. If they get a big all-around effort from everyone once again, Chicago may finish it off.
PHI- Get off to fast start… Peter Laviolette and company need to take a page out of Chicago’s book after last game, and get off to a blazing start. The ‘Orange Crush’ will be rockin’ from the start, so look for the Flyers to get on the board early.
Starting Goaltenders:
CHI- Antti Niemi (Playoff stats: 15-6, 2.62 GAA)
PHI- Michael Leighton (Playoff stats: 8-2, 2.34 GAA)
Injury Report:
CHI- Kim Johnsson (concussion, out)
PHI- Ray Emery (hip, out)
Game Thoughts:
Well here we go, folks! The Stanley Cup will be in the building, and will be brought out of its case in the later stages of the game. It’s up to the Flyers to make sure that Cup won’t be presented at center ice by the end of the night. Chicago came out on fire to start Game 5, and I expect a similar start from Philadelphia. Despite a porous game Sunday, Leighton — who has been dynamite at home — should be the starter again for the Flyers. In the end, two stats steer me to picking Philly in this one. The ‘Hawks haven’t won a game at Wachovia Center since 1996, while the Flyers are 9-1 on home-ice this postseason. Plus, momentum hasn’t existed from city-to-city in this series. Mike Richards and company send a statement tonight…
Prediction: Flyers 4, Blackhawks 1
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