Philadelphia small favorite to force Game 7
By Doug Upstone
Even the best of players will have an off day. Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant haven’t always dominated every finals game they played in and Sidney Crosby and Steve Yzerman were not always the best player on the ice game after game in the Stanley Cup finals they played in. After four marvelous outings against Chicago, the Flyers defenseman Chris Pronger had one of those games.
Pronger, who’s been dishing legal and illegal hits for years, was pounded a few different times by Blackhawks’ players in Game 5 and ended up -5 for his time on the ice in the 7-4 defeat.
Credit Chicago coach Joel Quenneville for creative line switches that appeared desperate before the game and brilliant after it. Quenneville broke up his top scoring line of line of Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane and Dustin Byfuglien after they had totaled one goal and three assists in the first four contests of the Finals, mostly facing Pronger when on the attack.
Each player was placed on a different line and Pronger and the entire Flyers defense was thrown off. The 6’6 blue-liner was singled out since he had been such a pain to Chicago, being on the ice for six of the Blackhawks goals and in the penalty box for the other. Philly is 4-10 after playing a game where nine or more total goals were scored this season.
Pronger has logged the most ice time of any player in the series and having two days off should refresh him, plus Philadelphia is 24-7 at home since the midpoint of the regular season. Flyers coach Peter Laviolette will work to combat his club’s off night and remind them the home team has won every contest in the series thus far, so by just playing Philadelphia hockey, they can extend series one more game.
After Chicago’s overwhelming performance, the sports bettor has to use his polyhistoric references and realize though the Hawks won the last game, realistically, neither team has the momentum.
Chicago as least psychologically feels good having laid out Pronger a few times and possibly shaken the confidence of goalie Michael Leighton, who reportedly is not a sure thing to start in goal for this encounter. Expect to see Leighton between the pipes since he is 6-0 at the Wachovia Center and his teammates are 9-1.
The Blackhawks are 19-3 off a home win scoring four or more goals this season and are starting to feel like they might have found something. “I think we've been looking for that throughout the whole series,” Kane said. “With him (Pronger) on the ice, he's a big guy, but we feel we can get around him and make some good plays.
Though Pronger has been a huge part of the discussion between games, his coach adds perspective. “I think if we look just for Chris Pronger to do it, everybody will be in trouble," Laviolette said. "We are a team that, by all accounts, we win together, and usually it's a team effort. And when we lose, well, we do it as a team. Everybody could have been a little bit better last night. I'm sure Chris will have a big game and lead the way, but others -- we need to make sure that we have all hands on deck."
This all leads to Philly being a -120 money line favorite at Sportsbook.com and they’ve won their last five when handing out -150 or less. Don’t expect Chicago to go quietly since they are 11-2 as underdogs in previous 13 tries and with total Ov5.5, the Hawks are 6-0 OVER in road games after both teams scored four goals or more this year. The Flyers will look to batten down the hatches and are 11-3 UNDER after permitting five goals or more.
NBC and the CBC will have Game 6 at 8:00 Eastern as Philadelphia tries to extend home winning streak over Chicago to 11, dating back to March of 1998.