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2010 Stanley Cup Finals, Game 2: Blackhawks stun Flyers in 2nd period

May 31, 2010, 9:59 PM EST

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End of 2nd: Chicago Blackhawks 2, Philadelphia Flyers 0

Blackhawks lead series 1-0

No sooner had I finished published the last update, extolling how the Flyers were back to normal thanks to the out of control nature of Dan Carcillo and the great performance by Michael Leighton, before the Chicago Blackhawks unleashed their fury upon the Flyers and scored two goals mere seconds apart.

It started with a scrum around the Flyers net, with the Blackhawks converging on a rebound in front of Michael Leighton. Marian Hossa, who has been beleaguered all postseason long, kept pounding away at the puck before bouncing it over Leighton and into the net.

It was a garbage goal, an unfortunate one to allow by Leighton who had been playing so well, and one you could almost forgive. You’d hope for better coverage in front, but it was essentially a bad bounce.

Then Ben Eager carried the puck into the zone, and the entire feel of the game changed.

Just 28 seconds after Hossa’s score, Eager pulled off a nifty toe drag to pull the puck right into his wheelhouse and into a position where Leighton would be perfectly screened by his defender. Eager unleashed a wicked wrist shot that exploded off his stick, painted the top shelf and was buried over Leighton’s shoulder.

Until that point, you could say the Flyers had been playing one hell of a game. They were putting the pressure back on the Blackhawks and only a number of tremendous saves by Antti Niemi kept the Flyers from taking the lead. Leighton looked calm and comfortable in net.

In the span of just 30 seconds, it all fell apart.

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