• Five things to watch for in Game 2

  • By Pierre LeBrun | May 31, 2010 11:24:18 AM PDT

CHICAGO -- Here are five things to look for in Monday night's Game 2 of the Stanley Cup finals:

1. Goaltending: How will Philadelphia Flyers netminder Michael Leighton fare after being pulled in Game 1?

"It's nice to get to him in the first game, but he's going to bounce back," Hawks center Patrick Sharp said Monday morning after the pregame skate. "He's a first-class goaltender for a reason and he's had a terrific playoff run. We expect him to have a great effort, so we need to get a lot of shots on him, a lot of pucks, get some bodies in front and hopefully we can score."

Just as guilty in Game 1 were Leighton's teammates, who played a rare brutal defensive game in front of him. The defensive lapses in the Flyers' zone and missed coverage assignments were a huge reason for the six goals against in the Hawks' 6-5 Game 1 win.

"We need to play better in front of him," Flyers coach Peter Laviolette concurred Monday morning.

2. Special teams: Surely, the Blackhawks will get a power play in Game 2, especially with Flyers agitator Daniel Carcillo telling the assembled media Monday morning he's in the lineup for Game 2 (Laviolette would not confirm the lineup change).

In Game 1 against San Jose and Saturday's opener versus Philadelphia, the Hawks did not receive a power play, which is rare.

"To go a whole game without a power play, I don't think that's realistic," Hawks star winger Patrick Kane said Monday morning.

His linemate, captain Jonathan Toews, echoed that sentiment, saying he believed his team had done enough to draw penalties in Game 1.

"It's frustrating when it doesn't [happen]," Toews said. "Hopefully we'll get a few breaks this game."

3. Expect a lower-scoring game: Eleven goals was fun for the fans, but this is the Stanley Cup finals, and both teams will tighten things up for Game 2.

"I don't think we were very happy giving up five and I'm sure they weren't very happy giving up six," said Sharp. "Both teams are going to want to limit chances defensively and it'll probably be a much tighter game."

4. Defensemen: Keep an eye on the minutes being played by the top blueliners on each team.

Chicago's Jordan Hendry played only 8:42 in Game 1, while Brian Campbell was down to 13:07; Hawks coach Joel Quenneville was seemingly unhappy with the two giveaways Campbell was charged with. That essentially left Duncan Keith (28:14), Brent Seabrook (26:52), Niklas Hjalmarsson (21:41) and Brent Sopel (21:24) to play most of the game. Look for Campbell to have a bounce-back game, which the Hawks need from him.

The Flyers, meanwhile, basically played four defensemen in Game 1 after Lukas Krajicek (7:03) was banged up after a hit from behind by Adam Burish. Ryan Parent played only 41 seconds after an ugly shift. That left Chris Pronger (32:21), Braydon Coburn (26:16), Matt Carle (28:08) and Kimmo Timonen (25:31) to play most of the game. Expect more of the same for the Flyers as they will continue to lean heavily on those top four, although Oskars Bartulis could be in for Parent on Monday night.

5. How will the top line on each team fare? Mike Richards' top Flyers line with Simon Gagne and Jeff Carter was completely shut down in Game 1 (the three players were pointless and a combined minus-7). There were rumblings after Monday's morning skate that Carcillo may skate with Richards and Carter, but again, Laviolette was mum on any lineup changes/pairings.

Meanwhile, Chicago's top trio -- Toews, Kane and Dustin Byfuglien -- were equally ineffective, pointless and a combined minus-9.

These two lines have been dynamite in the playoffs, and Game 1 was a blip for them. Look for them to get back on track in Game 2.


Tags:NHL

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