The Blackhawks are a win away from the Stanley Cup for the first time since they had a three games to two edge on Montreal in 1971(and lost games six and seven). Six different Hawks scored(Dustin Bufuglien had a pair)and that led to a 7-4 win over the Philadelphia Flyers.The Hawks lead the Stanley Cup Finals three games to two with game six in the Wachovia Center Wednesday night. The Blackhawks completely dominated the first period. After an early missed power play try, the Hawks had another chance at 11:16 when Scott Hartnell went for High sticking. The Hawks capitalized a minute and a second later when Brent Seabrook scored off assists from Troy Brouwer and Kris Versteeg. Just better than a few minutes later on a delayed Philadelphia penlty, Dave Bolland got a tip in off a Brent Sopel shot at 15:26 and Kris Versteeg beat Michael Leighton with a writer from 40 feet away into the lower right hand corner at 18:15 to make it 3-0 after one period. The Blackhawks outshot the Flyers 13-7 in the opening period. As one might expect, Peter Laviolette switched goalies with Brian Boucher replacing Leighton to being the second period and the Flyers responded by taking advantage of a good opening shift that saw Hartnell score off a rebound that was just sitting off the Antti Niemi’s right at :32. But the Hawks answered with Patrick Kane converting a Patrick Sharp pass at 3:13. The Flyers again got back to within a pair at 4:38 when Kimmo Timonen’s slap shot from the left point eluded a screened Niemi. But,, the Blackhawks again responded when the hated Chris Pronger was sent off for hooking at 15:18 and Byfuglien tipped in a Jonathan Toews shot at 14:45 to make it 5-2,which it was heading into the second intermission.The Flyers again tried to make a game of it when James Van Riemsdyk scored past a down and out Niemi at 6:36,but the Hawks held their ground until Sharp took a feed from Kane and slapped on past Boucher at 16:08. Simon Gagne scored for Philly at 17:24,but Boucher was quickly pulled and Byfuglien bagged an empty netter :31 later to complete the scoring.

NOTES—Michael Jordan(wearing a Toews sweater)was in attendance and of course got a great ovation…..Attendance was 22.305….The Blackhawks outshot the Flyers 28-26.

LES

HOUSTON—Cub killer Carlos Lee hit a two-run homer and Pedro Feliz added a two-run single, helping the Houston Astros to a 6-3 victory over the Northsiders on Sunday.It was enough to give Houston the win, and to make Mills feel good about the Astros’ 10-game trip that starts Monday in Colorado.Brett Myers (4-3) pitched well into the seventh inning, scattering eight hits while allowing only two earned runs and striking out six. He left with two out and two on, but reliever Wilton Lopez got the final out of the inning to end the threat. Matt Lindstrom pitched the ninth to earn his 13th save in 16 chances.The four runs constituted a rare outburst for the Houston offense against Randy Wells (3-4), who entered the game 2-0 in three career starts against the Astros and had not allowed an earned run against them in 20 2/3 innings.Wells left after only 5 1/3 innings and hasn’t won since April 30. His trouble started in the first inning, when Wells allowed three runs. Michael Bourn got a bunt single and Jeff Keppinger extended his hitting streak to eight with a line single to right, before Lance Berkman drove in a run with a single to right. Keppinger was thrown out trying to reach third, but Lee followed with his eighth home run for a 3-0 lead.Lee has 87 RBI against the Cubs, second most among active players.Starlin Castro’s sacrifice fly gave Chicago a run in the second. Marlon Byrd singled to start the inning, went to second on a walk to Aramis Ramirez, took third on Mike Fontenot’s fly to center and scored on Castro’s fly.Byrd doubled in the fourth and scored on Koyie Hill’s two-out single to deep right field. Fontenot was thrown out trying to go from first to home plate on the play.

NOTES—The Cubs will play three games in three days in three different stadiums. After playing at Houston, they fly to Pittsburgh for a makeup game on Monday before heading to Milwaukee for a series against the Brewers. … The Cubs’ Derrek Lee has a 58-game streak without an error, his longest run since the 2007 season, when he went 62 games. … The Cubs are 3-23 when scoring three or fewer runs and 22-7 when scoring four or more.

Carlos Quentin hit a go-ahead two-run single in the seventh inning to lead the White Sox to a 8-7 comeback victory over the Cleveland Indians on Sunday.Paul Konerko hit a two-run homer, his 17th of the season, and Alex Rios was 2 for 3 with three runs scored for the White Sox, who came back from an early 6-2 deficit to improve to 2-4 on a nine-game homestand.The White Sox also got Mark Buehrle off the hook after he had another rough outing.J.J. Putz (1-2) struck out two in a scoreless seventh to get the win, and Bobby Jenks pitched a perfect ninth for his ninth save in 10 chances.With the score tied at six in the seventh, Juan Pierre led off with a single off Indians reliever Tony Sipp (0-2). Sipp was lifted after a sacrifice bunt by Omar Vizquel.Indians reliever Jensen Lewis came in and walked Rios and Konerko to load the bases. Indians manager Manny Acta brought in left-hander Rafael Perez, who got Mark Kotsay to fly out to shallow center field. Then with two outs, Quentin hit Perez’s 0-2 pitch up the middle to score Pierre and Rios and give the White Sox an 8-6 lead.Buehrle allowed six runs over three innings on eight hits. He left after throwing 95 pitches. Since last season’s perfect game against Tampa Bay, the left-hander has given up five or more runs in 12 of 25 outings.Lou Marson hit a three-run homer and Austin Kearns had three hits for the Indians.With an early 6-2 lead, Indians starter Jake Westbrook was on his way to his first decision in nine starts against the White Sox, but he couldn’t hold the lead. Westbrook gave up a double to Rios in the fourth inning, and Rios’ scored on Quentin’s single. Alexei Ramirez and Gordon Beckham hit back-to-back singles off Westbrook in the fifth. Ramirez scored on Vizquel’s sacrifice fly, and Rios followed with a RBI single. After a walk to Konerko, Kotsay followed with a RBI single to tie it 6-6.The White Sox won for only the fourth time in 12 games against the Indians this season.White Sox reliever Matt Thornton allowed a double off the left-field wall to Kearns in the eighth and Jhonny Peralta drove him in on a single.Westbrook pitched 4 2/3 innings and gave up six runs and seven hits.Buehrle struggled for the second straight outing. With one out in the first inning, Buehrle allowed a single to Shin-Soo Choo, a double to Kearns and a two-run single to Peralta. Shelley Duncan followed with a double to right-center to score Peralta from first.Buehrle is having trouble commanding all of his pitches.After getting the first two outs in the third inning, Buehrle walked Luis Valbuena and allowed a single to Matt LaPorta. Marson then broke out of an 0 for 18 slump with a three-run shot to make it 6-2. It was his first home run since Sept. 28, 2008, with Philadelphia.

NOTES—Acta said there has been no greater influence in his coaching career than John Wooden. “Be patient, work hard, and control your emotions. I’m a big believer in that,” Acta said. “Everything I do is following his lead on how to lead people and how to try to get guys to approach a team-first mentality.” … Indians 2B Mark Grudzielanek left the game with tightness in the right hamstring. … Cleveland’s last three-game sweep of the White Sox in Chicago came on May 15-17, 1999.

HOUSTON—Lou Piniella finally decided to see what the youngsters could do for the Cubs, and, they delivered.Tyler Colvin hit a two-run home run and Koyie Hill had a two-run double as the Cubs snapped a four-game losing streak with an 8-5 victory over Roy Oswalt and the Houston Astros on Saturday night.Aramis Ramirez also homered and drove in two runs for the Cubs, but it was Colvin and Hill who made a big difference while each making their 15th starts of the season. The loss ended Houston’s four-game winning streak, tied for its longest this season.Ryan Dempster (4-5), who had lost five of his last six decisions, allowed six hits and three earned runs over 6 1/3 innings. He struck out seven. Oswalt (3-8) fell behind early on Ramirez’s second-inning homer. Ramirez added a run-scoring single in the fourth, and a sacrifice fly by Alfonso Soriano gave the Cubs a 3-2 lead after four innings.Consecutive doubles by Derrek Lee and Marlon Byrd provided the Cubs with another run in the sixth.Colvin hit his sixth homer in the seventh. Hill extended the lead with a two-run double in the eighth off Jeff Fulchino.Jeff Keppinger extended his hitting streak to seven games with his first homer of the season in the third for the Astros. Humberto Quintero homered in the seventh and added an two-run double in the ninth.Oswalt pitched seven innings and allowed nine hits, six earned runs and had one walk and one strikeout.Lance Berkman had an RBI single in the first, but the lead held only until the bottom half, when Ramirez slugged his 269th career homer over the left-field fence.Dempster had control problems in the first. He walked leadoff man Michael Bourn, who stole second and went to third on Keppinger’s grounder. Dempster then went to a 3-0 count against Berkman, who singled up the middle to score Bourn. Dempster had a full count on Hunter Pence, who grounded out to end the inning.Astros manager Brad Mills was impressed with the Cubs’ offense.Piniella also liked what he saw.

NOTES—Lee and Soriano each need one home run to reach 300. … Houston has the highest comeback percentage in the majors. They’ve rallied to win in 13 of their 21 victories, a .619 percentage. … Hunter Pence ranks second in the NL with 12 infield hits. … Oswalt started his 283rd game as an Astros pitcher, moving him into third place on the all-time list, one more than Nolan Ryan.

A matchup against Jake Peavy works out just fine for rookie Mitch Talbot.Austin Kearns had an RBI single in the fourth inning and scored on a balk, and Talbot pitched seven strong innings to help the Cleveland Indians beat the White Sox 3-1 on Saturday night.For the second straight time this season, Talbot (7-4) outpitched Peavy. Talbot allowed one run on six hits. He struck out five and walked three.The rookie right-hander has won all three of his starts against the White Sox with a 1.57 ERA. Talbot held the White Sox to just two runs over seven innings in a win over Peavy on May 25. Talbot threw his first career complete game in a 6-2 home win over the Sox on April 16.Russell Branyan added an RBI single off White Sox reliever Matt Thornton in the eighth inning for the Indians, 8-3 against the White Sox this season. The Indians are 13-30 versus all other opponents.With the White Sox quickly falling in the standings, White Sox general manager Kenny Williams may go in sell mode, and if he does, Peavy believes he may be one of the players that Williams tries to move.Peavy, who initially turned down a trade to the White Sox in last season while with the Padres, waived his no trade clause before last season’s trade deadline. Peavy is signed through 2012 with a club option for 2013. He is due $15 million this season, $16 million in 2011 and $17 million in 2012.Peavy (4-5) pitched seven inning and allowed two runs on six hits. He struck out three and walked one.Chris Perez pitched a scoreless eighth inning and Kerry Wood pitched a perfect ninth for his fourth save in five opportunities.The White Sox are 1-4 on their nine-game homestand and fell to a season-low nine games under .500. The offensive woes continue for the White Sox, beaten 10-1 by Justin Masterson and the Indians on Friday. Masterson snapped an 11-game losing streak and won his first game since Aug. 20, 2009.After the game, Ozzie Guillen called his club, “a very bad hitting team.” Peavy was perfect through the first three innings, but was done in with a poor fourth inning. Trevor Crowe and Shin-Soo Choo hit back-to-back singles in the fourth. After a three hit game on Friday, Kearns followed with a RBI single to left. Juan Pierre had trouble picking up Kearns’ ball and Choo tried to take third, but was tagged out while sliding into third. Kearns ended up taking second on the throw. During Branyan’s at-bat, Peavy threw a wild pitch, allowing Kearns to move to third. Three pitches later, Peavy made a motion to the mound and stopped, resulting in a balk called by home plate umpire Lance Barksdale to score Kearns.The White Sox got a run back in the bottom half, Alex Rios led off with an infield hit and stole second. With two outs, Rios scored from second on Ramon Castro’s single.

NOTES—The White Sox had their first crowd over 30,000 since Opening Day. The announced attendance was 30,864. … Crowe, playing center, made a diving catch on Rios’ ball in the seventh inning. … Travis Hafner broke out of a 0 for 24 slump with a double in the ninth.

HOUSTON—Lance Berkman and the Houston Astros took advantage of Carlos Zambrano’s control problems to finally get a little run support for Felipe Paulino.Paulino struck out seven in eight effective innings, Berkman drove in two runs and the Astros beat Zambrano and the Cubs 3-1 on Friday night for their fourth straight win.Paulino (1-7) allowed one run and five hits to record his first victory since Oct. 1 at Philadelphia. The Astros averaged 1.97 runs in the first 10 games started by the 26-year-old right-hander this season, the lowest support in the majors for any regular starter.Led by Berkman and Michael Bourn, who had three hits and scored twice, Houston finally managed to get Paulino some runs.Matt Lindstrom pitched a perfect ninth to earn his 12th save after blowing his previous two chances.Paulino improved to 1-1 with a 1.61 ERA in his last four starts, and the Astros were relieved they finally produced for him.The Cubs have lost four in a row and scored only one or two runs in six of their last seven games.Lou Piniella promised changes for Saturday’s game, including putting rookie Tyler Colvin in the lineup.Zambrano (1-4) allowed three runs and six hits over 4 1/3 innings in his first start since April 20. The $91.5 million right-hander was moved to the shaky bullpen after opening the season with a 1-2 record and a 7.45 ERA in four starts.Zambrano was 2-0 with a 0.90 ERA in four previous starts against the Astros, including a no-hitter in September 2008, but he struggled with his control early on, leading to a short outing.Bourn led off the first with a single, advanced on Jeff Keppinger’s groundout and scored on Berkman’s drive to the left-field corner. Left fielder Alfonso Soriano threw the ball to the infield in time for the Cubs to catch Berkman in a rundown between first and second.Houston loaded the bases when Zambrano gave up a double to Carlos Lee and two-out walks to Cory Sullivan and Geoff Blum. Pitching coach Larry Rothschild visited the mound, and Pedro Feliz popped up to end Zambrano’s 34-pitch inning.Paulino escaped a bases-loaded jam in the third when Aramis Ramirez fouled out to Berkman to end the inning.The Cubs had a scare in the fifth when rookie shortstop Starlin Castro was shaken up sliding into third on Zambrano’s bunt up the third-base line. Third baseman Feliz threw out Zambrano and catcher Humberto Quintero ran to third to take the throw from first. Quintero and Castro collided, and Castro stayed down as Piniella and the Cubs’ medical staff came out to check on him.Castro remained in the game and scored on Marlon Byrd’s double to the left-field corner. He had scrapes and cuts on his right forearm and left shoulder, but said he was OK.Bourn singled in the bottom half, stole second and scored on Keppinger’s single. Bourn leads the NL with 18 stolen bases.Piniella then replaced Zambrano with left-hander Tom Gorzelanny, who was making his first relief appearance after nine starts this season. Berkman drove Gorzelanny’s first pitch off the left-field scoreboard for a double to give Houston a 3-1 lead.Paulino struck out at least one hitter in every inning between the fourth and the eighth. Bourn helped Paulino with a sharp defensive play in the seventh, chasing down Mike Fontenot’s drive to the warning track in left-center.

NOTES—The Cubs are 3-23 when scoring three runs or less. … Sullivan started in right field in place of Hunter Pence. Pence was hitting .395 with three homers in his last 11 games, but had a .227 lifetime average against Zambrano. Pence replaced Sullivan in the fifth to face Gorzelanny. … Piniella adjusted his upcoming rotation after Wednesday’s game in Pittsburgh was postponed until Monday. RHP Ryan Dempster (3-5, 3.72 ERA) will start Saturday’s game and RHP Randy Wells (3-3, 4.40 ERA) is slated to start Sunday’s finale. Carlos Silva (7-0, 3.12 ERA) will start the makeup game against the Pirates.

 Cleveland’s manager and players knew, Indians fans knew, the media knew. Justin Masterson? He insists he wasn’t aware of how bad his losing streak was.Masterson (1-5), acquired from Boston last July 31 in the Victor Martinez trade, said he had gained some confidence with his solid outing at Yankee Stadium his last time out. Still, he hadn’t won in 17 starts since beating the Los Angeles Angels on Aug. 20.The streak-buster wasn’t pretty — five hits, six walks and two hit batters in 5 2/3 innings — but it finally gave the last-place Indians some good news.They would have had a perfect game pitched against them Wednesday if not for an umpiring mistake. They were routed by Detroit the next day. And a few hours before Friday’s game, All-Star centerfielder Grady Sizemore underwent season-ending knee surgery.The trip to the South Side came along at just the right time. The Indians are 7-3 against the White Sox, 13-30 against everybody else.In losing for the ninth time in its last 13 home games, the Sox fell to 23-31.In games after victories, the White Sox are 4-19.John Danks (4-5) took a 1-0 lead into the sixth but couldn’t get out of the inning. Shin-Soo Choo doubled, Austin Kearns walked and Russell Branyan singled before Jhonny Peralta — who had four hits and four RBI — doubled off the left-field wall to put Cleveland ahead.After Branyan was thrown out at home on Travis Hafner’s grounder, Duncan hit an RBI double and Luis Valbuena chased Danks with a run-scoring single to make it 4-1.Danks, who allowed four runs on nine hits in 5 1/3 innings, is 1-5 with a 5.05 ERA since going 3-0 with a 1.55 ERA in April. He has a 3-6 career record against the Indians, including 0-4 at home.The only run off Masterson came on Alexei Ramirez’s homer, but the White Sox had multiple baserunners every inning against him.In the sixth, Masterson walked Mark Kotsay on four pitches and hit Carlos Quentin with a 2-1 delivery, but A.J. Pierzynski grounded into a double play on the next pitch. After Ramirez walked, reliever Frank Herrmann made his major league debut and got Gordon Beckham to fly out.Herrmann was called up earlier in the day from Triple-A Columbus, where he had a 0.31 ERA and finished with a scoreless streak of 27 1/3 innings.The 26-year-old right-hander immediately helped the AL’s most-generous bullpen (5.58 ERA entering Friday), retiring all four batters he faced. Jensen Lewis and Rafael Perez followed with a scoreless inning each.Peralta made it 6-1 in the seventh with another two-run double. In the eighth, Kearns had a two-run homer and Trevor Crowe added a two-run triple.

 NOTES—To make room for Herrmann, the Indians designated RHP Jamey Wright for assignment. The 35-year-old righty was 1-2 with a 5.48 ERA in 18 relief appearances…..Paul Konerko got the night off. Going into Friday, he was tied for the AL lead with 16 HRs but he has a career .182 average against Masterson. Kotsay, his replacement, drew three walks…..The Indians’ record for most losses in a row by a pitcher is 13, by Guy Morton in 1914.

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).

Carlos Quentin, booed after committing an error that led to a Texas run, atoned with a two-run homer in the seventh inning Thursday night as the White Sox rallied for a 4-3 victory over the Rangers.Freddy Garcia (5-3) pitched seven solid innings and Andruw Jones and Alex Rios also homered for the White Sox, who avoided being swept at home by the Rangers for the first time in 24 years.Colby Lewis (4-4) was in command for six innings but needed only three pitches in the seventh to blow a 3-2 lead. After A.J. Pierzynski doubled on the first pitch, Quentin sent Lewis’ 1-0 delivery just over the right-field fence.Before getting his seventh homer of the season, Quentin had gone hitless in two at-bats as his average fell to .205. The right fielder had incurred the wrath of fans at U.S. Cellular Field with two outs in the fourth, when he dropped David Murphy’s routine fly for a two-base error. Justin Smoak followed with a single to make it 1-1. Garcia, a former World Series hero who was supposed to be the weak link in the rotation, leads the team with five wins and has had only two bad starts. The 33-year-old right-hander allowed three runs (two earned), seven hits and one walk.Matt Thornton pitched a perfect eighth and Bobby Jenks worked a scoreless ninth for his eighth save.Michael Young’s fifth-inning RBI double and Craig Gentry’s sacrifice fly in the sixth gave the Rangers a 3-1 lead. Young went 7 for 13 with five RBIs in the series and is batting .419 over his last 18 games. Gentry was playing in place of injured star Vladimir Guerrero.Rios’ homer in bottom of the sixth, his 12th of the season, narrowed the deficit to 3-2.Jones’ second-inning solo shot opened the scoring and gave him 398 career homers, tied with Dale Murphy for 48th all-time. It was his 10th this year but first in 58 at-bats since May 5.

NOTES—Guerrero, hit by a ball during batting practice Wednesday, didn’t play for a second straight night due to swelling around his left eye. “He could have played, but the way people pitch him tight, I didn’t want to risk him getting hurt because he didn’t see the ball completely,” manager Ron Washington said. “I need Vlad beyond June 3. He’s too big a weapon for us.” Guerrero is batting .335 with 12 HRs and 44 RBIs. …Gordon Beckham, one of baseball’s top rookies last year but a .200 hitter this season, didn’t play. Asked if he simply was giving Beckham a night off, manager Ozzie Guillen said: “So far. I didn’t say I’m going to bench him. I’m just saying if someone performs better than him, I have no choice. I need to win some games.” Beckham’s replacement, Jayson Nix, went 0 for 3 with two strikeouts. … The White Sox said Mark Teahen, who had a pin inserted into his broken right middle finger Thursday, will miss at least six weeks. Guillen said 43-year-old Omar Vizquel, an 11-time Gold Glove winner at shortstop, will be the main 3B for now.

PHILADELPHIA—Anyone who expected a quick Stanley Cup Finals, now can understand it may be quite the opposite. Claude Giroux banged in a rebound at 5:59 of overtime and the Philadelphia Flyers got their first ever Playoff win over the Blackhawks 4-3. The Hawks still lead the series two games to one with game four Friday here at the Wachovia Center and game five is now a certainty at the United Center Sunday night. As expected the sellout was loud and rambunctious as the Blackhawks appeared to have an early edge in play but the game remained scoreless until Marian Hossa was sent off for slashing at 13:54. The Flyers took advantage 1:04 later when Danny Briere tipped in a Scott Hartnell shot. Considering the fact that Bill McCreary and Dan O’Halloran,who did not call a thing against Philadelphia in the United Center,it was a shocker that McCreary sent Dan Carcillo off for charging at 18:05,and he singled out Byfuglien for roughing at the 20:00 mark when about three players on each side got into shoving matches. It was still 1-0 when the second period started and the Hawks killed off Byfuglien’s penalty. Then at 2:49, Duncan Keith beat a partially screened Michael Leighton at 2:49 with a slap shot that the goalie never saw.Patrick Kane got his first point of the series with an assist along with Hossa. Again, Byfuglien was picked out by McCreary and send off for a questionable slashing call at 9:31 This was costly as Chris Pronger took a shot that was tipped by Scott Hartnell, it bounced behind Antti Niemi, and it skidded along the goal line,but the goal light did not go on and play continued even though the sound operator hit the ‘horn’ button. When play stopped.they reviewed it a awarded the goal at 9:55. Once again however, the Hawks struck from out of nowhere when Brent Sopel took a shot from the right point that Leighton again did not appear to ever see and it went past his right side into the net to tie the game 2-2 at 17:52. The goal was Sopel’s first in the playoffs and John Madden had the lone helper. The Blackhawks had a 12-7 shots on goal advantage in the second period giving them a 21-16 edge.The Hawks got their first lead of the game, albeit a short lived one when Jonathan Toews hit Kane in stride on a clean breakaway an d he wristed one past Leighton at 2:50,but that advantage only lasted twenty seconds as Claude Giroux fired a shot and the rebound went to Ville Leino who has an easy tip in to tie the game 3-3. Once the game went to overtime,the Flyers thought they have a game winner a few minutes in, but after a replay review,it was confirmed that the puck did not cross the goal line. The stay of execution was short lived however,

NOTES—The attendance of 20,297 was not only the largest Flyers Home crowd over, but the largest ever in the State of Pennsylvania to watch a hockey game…..Before the game, a tape of Kate Smith single God Bless America was played at the same time a live singer was also performing the song…..The only shot on goal in overtime for Philadelphia was on Guroux’s goal. The Hawks had two SOG on Leighton. Totals shots for the game favored the Flyers 32-27……Philadelphia was 2-3 on the power play while the Blackhawks were 0-3.

LES