The Blackhawks have captured seven straight road playoff games.
After a wild 11-goal explosion in Game 1 of the best-of-seven Stanley Cup Finals, the Chicago Blackhawks and Philadelphia Flyers played Game 2 much closer to the vest. The result was a 2-1 Chicago victory that gave the Blackhawks a 2-0 series lead.
The Blackhawks closed as 200 home favorites, with the combined three goals sliding well ‘under' the six-goal closing total. The total in the opening game closed at 5 ½ and was bumped by a half-goal after the teams combined for 11 markers.
The series now shifts to Philadelphia for the next two games where the Flyers own a nifty 31-15-1-2 record.
Though the Blackhawks have captured seven straight road playoff games, most offshore sports books monitored by the DonBest Odds product have installed Philadelphia as a 120 home favorite. The ‘total' has been adjusted back down to 5 ½ ‘under' (minus 110).
It is worth noting that when the home team has won the first two games of the Stanley Cup Finals, it has gone on to capture the Cup 31 of 33 times.
Monday's Game 2 was nothing like the Game 1 track meet that saw the club's combine for 64 shots and 11 goals.
The Hawks held a 2-0 lead after second-period goals by Marian Hossa and Ben Eager, but the Flyers came at goaltender Antti Niemi in waves in the third. The Finnish netminder was up to the task by making 15 of his 33 saves and yielding only a Simon Gagne power-play goal.
Niemi improved his record during the current playoff campaign to 14-4 and raised his overall record to 40-11-2-2. He has a 2.30 GAA and a .915 save percentage.
Michael Leighton was back between the pipes for the Flyers after being pulled in the second stanza of the opening game. Leighton did much better work this time, stopping 31-of-33 shots. Nevertheless, Leighton saw his postseason record slip to 6-2 and his overall ledger dip to 22-7-2-0. He has a 2.34 GAA and a .921 save percentage.
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Chicago out-hit the Flyers, 37-35, and held a 37-34 edge in the faceoff circle.
The goalies stole the show for much of the first two periods before the Hawks finally broke through late in the second by scoring twice within 28-second span.
Marian Hossa struck first by snapping his eight-game goalless skid when the veteran winger pounced on a Patrick Sharp rebound shot and chipped it past Leighton as teammate Troy Brouwer battled in front.
Just 28 seconds after Hossa scored, Eager then notched his first goal of the NHL playoffs by firing a wrist shot from the top of the right circle that sailed over Leighton's left shoulder.
After the Flyers got a power-play goal from Simon Gagne early in the third period, Niemi withstood a late flurry from the Flyers to preserve Chicago's seventh straight win. The Flyers outshot Chicago in the final stanza, 15-4.
The Flyers finished 1-for-3 with the man advantage, and are now 2-for-7 in the first two series games. After going 0-for-3 on the power play in Game 1, the Blackhawks repeated the performance in Game 2.
Philadelphia inserted forward Daniel Carcillo into the lineup to add more grit. A scratch the last three games, and known for his agitating style, Carcillo was the team leader in playoff penalty minutes (30) entering the game. He joined Philadelphia captain Mike Richards and Jeff Carter on a first line that had been pointless in the opener.