Despite all the heroics in game 3 the Flyers still needed a win tonight to firmly establish themselves as back in the series . Just like in game 3 they got off to a quick start in this one but this time there was no surge back from Chicago, it was all Orange and Black. Just about a minute and half into the contest the Flyers found themselves on the power play and took advantage with Mike Richards scoring a brilliant backhand for a quick 1-0 lead. It was 10 minutes before the Orange and Black got another shot on goal and again as Matt Carle slipped in front of the net undetected and slapped one by Anti Niemi for a 2-0 lead. 4 minutes later Patrick Sharp briefly shifted the momentum to Chicago slapping one by Micheal Leighton off a deflection to cut the lead to 2-1.
Just a minute the Hawks completely lost sight of Claude Giroux as he moved next to the net and behind a clueless Niemi. Kimmo Timonen did keep Giroux and fired a beautiful pass to him which he deposited into the back of the net for a 3-1 and crushing finish to the period for Chicago. Both defenses tightened up in the 2nd period and neither team was able to score. the Defense remained tight early in the 3rd period before Ville Leino made a couple beautiful moves past the Chicago defense and fired a shot off Niemi and into the net for a 4-1 lead. After that the defense of the Orange and Black clamped appeared to take control and the Flyers cruised towards an inevitable victory.
Then the Flyers were quickly penalized twice within a minute of each other with Scott Hartnell called for unsportsmanlike conduct for yelling from the bench and Braydon Coburn called for a weak holding penalty give Chicago a 5 on 3. Dave Bolland scored for Chicago on the first power play and as quick as you can bat an eyelash the momentum shifted in the Hawk's favor. The Flyers killed of the 2nd penalty but only a couple minutes after that Brian Campbell pushed one by Leighton in a scrum and suddenly it was 4-3. Chicago desperately continued to surge after that in search of the tying goal but Leighton made a couple spectacular saves and Coburn, after losing his stick, batted away another scoring chance with his skate. Finally the Hawks were forced to pull Niemi in favor of the extra attacker in the final minute but before they could really get anything else going in the Flyer's zone Sharp lost the puck at the blueline, allowing Jeff Carter to glide back to the empty net and score, at last securing a 5-3 victory. So the series is now tied at 2 and best of 3. May the best team win.
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