Hawks blog - Second City Hockey
Flyers blog - Broad Street Hockey
Game four kicks off tonight in Philly at 8 PM ET in what may very well be the biggest game of the series. If Chicago wins, they head back to home ice with a commanding 3-1 lead and a chance to clinch in front of the home fans. If Philly wins, they skate back to the United Center in Chicago tied at two a piece in a best of three series.
I'm not one for making predictions, but I think Philly is taking this one on home ice. The Flyers have skated with the Blackhawks every single game. They are not being overtaken as many suspected they would be. All three games of the series have been decided by one goal. Chicago is not dismantling the Flyers and Philly is not bowing down to the Blackhawks' high-scoring offense.
With said, you can't take anything away from the Blackhawks. They are finding ways to win and making the most of opportunities - ie., Kane's breakaway goal the other night.
Coming into this series a lot of people expected a low-scoring affair. The prevailing thought was that Chicago's offense would be stopped by Philly's defense and the Flyers' offense would try and score a few goals to match the Blackhawks. So far, if you haven't noticed, that is not the case at all. Both teams are playing shootout hockey (minus game two) and making it pretty exciting to watch. I can live with that.