Game one of the 2010 Stanley Cup Finals were last night. It definitely didn’t go according to the script as the two offenses traded blows, the defences stood idly by and goalies worked on their tan thanks to the goal light. In all, 11 goals were scored over the sixty minutes of play. At the end of those three periods, one team was one win closer to winning Lord Stanley’s Cup.

Philadelphia 5 @ Chicago 6 – The two unexpected heroes from between the pipes forgot to show up for game one. Both teams managed 64 shots on goal and 11 of those twinkled the twine. That’s a combined save percentage of 0.828. The two teams traded goals for the first two period before Tomas Kopecky broke the 5-5 tie at the midpoint of the third period. The scoring was fairly spread out with 10 different goal scorers between the teams with only Troy Brouwer notching multiple markers. It was a rough night for the Flyers despite what the scoreboard said. Michael Leighton stopped only 15 of the 20 shots he faced which will make Peter Laviolette’s job hard for game two. The power play also went 0-for-4, though the often undisciplined Flyers stayed out of the sin bin. Interestingly, the last Stanley Cup Final game in Chicago also ended 6-5 when Pittsburgh beat the Hawks in 1992.
Chicago leads the series 1-0

Three Stars of the Night:
1. Troy Brouwer (Chicago) – 2 goals, 1 assist
2. Danny Briere (Philadelphia) – 1 goal, 3 assists
3. Dave Bolland (Chicago) – 1 goal, 1 assist

Monday’s Schedule:
Philadelphia at Chicago – CHI leads 1-0 (TV: CBC, NBC)