Game four saw the teams coming in with two different agendas. The Flyers dropped Dan Carcillo for James van Riemskyk to add some scoring punch and lose some careless penalty minutes. The Blackhawks were looking to recapture the dominant play that’s been missing since the midpoint of game two. This could be the most important game of the series. A Flyers win would make the series best of three. A Hawks win would give them a chance to clinch the series in game five.

Chicago 3 @ Philadelphia 5 – This was supposed to be a walkover by the Chicago Blackhawks. Their young talent was supposed to run roughshod over the Flyers’ young talent to end a near 50-year drought. Don’t tell the Flyers that. They dominated the first two-and-a-half periods and did just enough to hold on to this game. The Flyers got three goals in the first period to jump out front with the third goal answering a Patrick “20 Cent” Kane goal after 49 seconds. After an early third period goal by Ville Leino, the Hawks marched back with two goals and poured on the pressure from there. A Jeff Carter empty-netter ended the game and sent the series back to Chicago as a best of three. After four games, the home team has one each game. While winning a road game isn’t necessary for the Hawks to win the Cup, they shouldn’t leave it to a final game. Anything can happen in a seventh game so these next two games will be critical to winning the Cup.
The series is tied 2-2

Three Stars of the Night:
1. Claude Giroux (Philadelphia) – 1 goal, +2
2. Chris Pronger (Philadelphia) – +4
3. Duncan Keith (Chicago) – 3 assists, 30:41 ice time

Sunday’s Schedule:
Philadelphia at Chicago – Series tied 2-2 (TV: CBC, NBC)