PHILADELPHIA—In a series that has felt like a swap meet with the way the Flyers and Blackhawks have traded goals, Philadelphia found itself with some extra room to work with in the third period of Game 4.Then the Hawks roared back, reminding the Flyers and their nervous fans how tight and fast-paced these Stanley Cup Finals have been.Mike Richards, Matt Carle and Claude Giroux all scored first-period goals and Philadelphia withstood a late surge by the Blackhawks to win 5-3 on Friday. With two straight home victories by a total of three goals, goalie Michael Leighton and the Flyers have bounced back to tie the series at 2.Game 5 is Sunday night at the United Center and there’s no reason to think it won’t be just as intense as the first four.Jeff Carter scored an empty-netter in the final seconds to help the Flyers become the first team this series to win a game by more than one goal. The Flyers, trying to win their first title since 1975, blew the lead late in the third.Leading 4-1 early in the period, Dave Bolland and Brian Campbell scored late goals to slice the deficit to one.The home team has won all four games this series. Game 6 will be back in Philadelphia.Home ice might not matter much if Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane can’t get untracked and return to form. Kane had one assist as the top line continued to flounder.Ville Leino also scored for the Flyers, who have not lost beyond Game 3 in any round this postseason.The Hawks nearly snapped that skid — they just ran out of time. After the Blackhawks won a key faceoff, Bolland sent one past Leighton for the Hawks first power-play goal of the game. They entered 0 for 6 and went 1 for 3 in Game 4.The goal energized the Blackhawks. They didn’t look beat down from having to rally and fight the Flyers for most of the first 60 minutes.Campbell made it 4-3 when his shot appeared to deflect off Flyers defenseman Kimmo Timonen’s stick, and silenced the Flyers crowd. His first goal of the series was upheld after a brief review and gave the Blackhawks a glimmer of hope for a monster upset.It was just too late.The Hawks pulled Antti Niemi for the man-advantage but Carter slid in the empty-netter and tense crowd exhaled and celebrated.Now it’s back to the United Center. Philadelphia hadn’t held a two-goal lead in the final all series until the first period. Richards, the Flyers captain, had been as quiet on the ice in the final as he can be with the press.His first goal of the final was a memorable one. Richards chased Blackhawks defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson from behind the net and struck with a quick steal. His backhanded flip toward the net stunned Niemi for his seventh goal of the playoffs and a 1-0 lead only 4:35 into the game. Carle scored his first goal of the postseason, when he buried a rebound from inside the right circle to make it 2-2.Flyers fans started their derisive “An-tti! An-tti!” chants toward the beleaguered goalie.Yes, a pair of big market teams are a huge reason why this series has done record ratings for the NHL. But this series has looked like Olympic speedskating with sticks. The early dynamic pace left fans needing to catch their breath.Sharp had his goal deflected by Flyers defenseman Braydon Coburn to make it 2-1.Giroux, who scored the Game 3 overtime winner, swung the momentum back toward Philly when he scored with 36.3 seconds left. He was all alone near the net and punched into a wide open net. He shook his head like he couldn’t believe how easy it was.Leighton knows the feeling.He has been steady for the Flyers since he was yanked in Game 1. He stopped 26 of the first 27 shots he faced and finished with 31 saves.Niemi had 26 saves, but it wasn’t enough to overcome a rugged first period.

NOTES—Vice President Joe Biden was at the game. So was singer Cyndi Lauper…..The Flyers improved to 9-1 at home in the postseason……The first four games of the Stanley Cup Finals have been decided by one goal twice……The Flyers drew a crowd of 20,304 to go over the 1 million mark in attendance (1,000,372).