Blackhawks Score

Two squeaker goals — including Claude Giroux's tally in overtime — helped the No. 7-ranked Philadelphia Flyers beat the No. 2-seeded Chicago Blackhawks, 4-3, in overtime in Game Three Wednesday night in Philadelphia in the Stanley Cup final of the NHL Playoffs 2010.

Five minutes, 59 seconds into overtime, Giroux redirected the puck and barely slipped it through the pads of Chicago netminder Antti Niemi (28 saves) for the game-winner. Matt Carle and Danny Briere assisted on the final play of the night.

Chicago still leads the series, 2-1. Game Four is slated for 8 p.m. ET on Friday in Philadelphia.

About three minutes into the third stanza, Chicago's Patrick Kane put in the go-ahead goal at the time off assists from Jonathan Toews and Ben Eager. But Philadelphia's Ville Leino scored 20 seconds later to tie the contest at 3. The Flyers' Claude Giroux and Matt Carle assisted on the goal.

With about two minutes left in the second period, the Blackhawks won a faceoff in Philadelphia's end and Chicago's Brent Sopel fired home the game-tying goal. It appeared a Flyers defender shielded his own netminder, Michael Leighton (24 saves), on the play.

Chicago's John Madden provided the assist on the Sopel goal.

The second period ended like it began, with a goal by Chicago. About three minutes into the period, Duncan Keith scored the Blackhawks' first tally of the game thanks to assists from Kane and Marian Hossa to make it 1-1.

However, Philadelphia stormed right back with a score of their own courtesy of Scott Hartnell's power-play goal. Briere and Giroux added assists on the play to go back up, 2-1.

The lone goal of the first period was by Briere, who took a falling down, no-look feed from Hartnell in front of the net and slipped it by Chicago goalie Antti Niemi.

While Philadelphia came away with the victory, three of their four goals were of the lucky variety and they were the benefactors of being in the right place at precisely the right time. They will need to play much better in Game Four if they want to tie the series at two games apiece.

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Blackhawks Game

PHILADELPHIA -- The Flyers wouldn't go away. Nor would the Blackhawks. So it was on to overtime Wednesday in the Stanley Cup finals.

And after the horn sounded and the crowd roared for what the Flyers thought was a game-winning score five minutes into the extra period, Claude Giroux made sure there was no doubt about it shortly thereafter.

The Flyers caught the Hawks in a line change and Giroux redirected a pass by defenseman Matt Carle for the game-winner that counted, sealing a 4-3 overtime victory in Game 3 and cutting the Hawks' series lead to 2-1.

"It's one of those games, from start to finish, it could have gone either way," Hawks coach Joel Quenneville said. "Timely goal by them at the end, but we had some timely goals ourselves. It's pretty competitive, where we're at."

Game 4 is set for Friday, with a Game 5 at the United Center on Sunday now guaranteed.

"We're still in a good position," Hawks winger Patrick Kane said. "Hopefully we can win (Friday) and take it back home."

"We're up 2-1," center Jonathan Toews said. "That's a great situation to be in. We've still got to play with a lot of confidence and we have to believe in each other. It was a tough building to play in tonight and that was a desperate team. ... We're going to get ready for the next one and that's all we can worry about right now."

At the 5:02 mark of overtime, a shot by the Flyers' Simon Gagne ricocheted off the stick of the Hawks' Dave Bolland and hit the far post. And then, amazingly, it slid directly across the goal line -- but somehow never over it before Antti Niemi scooped it safely away.

Officials checked the replay and ruled no-goal. It was the second time in Game 3 that a scoring play for the Flyers was reviewed, the first resulting in a Scott Hartnell goal in the second period.

Then not too long after that, the Hawks were in the middle of a line change as the Flyers streaked up ice, with Giroux angling in front of Carle's foray to beat Niemi.

Kane had quieted the Wachovia Center crowd with a breakaway goal early in the third period to give the Hawks their first lead in Game 3, only to have the Flyers' Ville Leino score 20 seconds later and once again knot matters up at 3-3, where the score stood all the way to the end of regulation.

Toews corralled a loose puck and found a streaking Kane, who snapped off a wrister from the slot to beat Michael Leighton and put the Hawks up 3-2 at the 2:50 mark of the third. It was Kane's first goal since Game 6 of the conference semifinals against the Canucks.

But before Kane's goal even was announced to the crowd, Leino took a rebound off a shot by Giroux and slammed it home for the equalizer at the 3:10 mark.

Before that, two of the Blackhawks' warhorses have helped them knot things up heading into the third period.

Veteran center John Madden won a faceoff and sent the puck back to veteran defenseman Brent Sopel, who sent a blast through three Flyers and into the net to tie the game at 2-2.

Madden beat the Flyers' Mike Richards cleanly, and then Sopel's shot somehow threaded through a trio of Flyers stacked in goalie Leighton's view for his first goal of the postseason at the 17:52 mark. It was just Sopel's third goal in 61 career playoff games.

This after the Flyers again jumped ahead of the Blackhawks, about two minutes after they actually jumped ahead.

An official review changed a no-goal call to a power-play score by Hartnell, providing a 2-1 lead over the Hawks midway through the second period.

The shot slid through Niemi and, despite the red light flashing and the goal horn sounding, officials ruled that the Hawks' Niklas Hjalmarsson cleared the puck before it completely crossed the goal-line 10 minutes into the second.

But once play stopped about two minutes later, officials reviewed the footage and ruled the puck indeed crossed the line. It was bitter, too, for the Hawks, as the tally arrived after Chris Pronger goaded Dustin Byfuglien into a slashing penalty moments earlier.

The Hawks had come back to tie it when Kane at last got on the scoresheet in the finals, shooting a nice cross-ice pass to Duncan Keith that the Hawks defenseman blasted in to make it  a 1-1 tie early in the second period.

Marian Hossa wrestled the puck away behind the net and fed it to Kane, who circled out into the zone and then zipped the pass to Keith. The shot from just inside the blue line then ricocheted off the blade of the Flyers' Jeff Carter and past Leighton for the equalizer, Keith's second goal of the playoffs. The assist was Kane's first point of the finals.

Danny Briere's power-play goal provided a 1-0 lead for the Flyers after one period of play -- a period that ended with tempers boiling over and mini-scrums erupting on the ice.

Shots off the post by Toews and Kane didn't count for much, and when Hossa went to the box for slashing at the 13:54 mark, the Flyers pounced. Niemi couldn't control a rebound on a blast from the wing, and the Flyers' Hartnell made a fantastic pass while falling down to Briere, who punched home his 11th goal of the playoffs at the 14:58 mark for the lead.

The Hawks would go on the power play in the last two minutes of the period, but the only fireworks occurred after the horn had blown. Byfuglien and Toews were in the middle of a near-brawl in the corner with multiple Flyers, with Pronger wrapping Toews up in a headlock. Kane actually skated into the fray to take a shot at the Flyers' Arron Asham, with Byfuglien then jumping in and earning a two-minute penalty for roughing.

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Jones Beach

Thousands of people gather around Jones Beach in Wantagh, New York (Long Island) for the Jones Beach Air Show 2010.

Parking lots at Jones Beach were overflowing with a crowd of nearly 150,000 as the aircrafts showcase their exhibition on the clear skies of New York.

Lt. Col. John Klatt of the Air National Guard is one of those who perform death-defying stunts in the sky. “I’ve always enjoyed airplanes,” says Klatt, who began flying at 17. “My dad used to take me to air shows as a kid and I was always excited about it.”

People were so enthusiastic about what they’re watching. Some were a bit nervous and scared, “One particular aircraft looked like it was going to fall, but I’m glad it’s not me up there, I’d have a head ache and a stomach ache,” said Sara Morrison, a beachgoer.

The Jones Beach Air Show is part of the celebration of Memorial Day. This is one way of remembering and honoring the military and the veterans who have given America their service.

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Sharks & Canadians

The San Jose Sharks find themselves down 2-0 in the best-of-seven Western Conference finals against the Chicago Blackhawks and must win the next two games in Chicago or risk this series coming to an early end.

The Blackhawks narrowly defeated the Sharks 2-1 in the opener thanks largely to the goaltending of Antti Niemi, who stopped 44 of 45 shots and was certainly Chicago's best player in an evenly matched, well-paced game that could've gone either way.

In Game 2, the Sharks started well, outshooting and outplaying the Blackhawks in the first half of the first period, but it was Chicago that drew first blood courtesy of a long wrister from Andrew Ladd, which surprised Sharks goalie Evgeni Nabokov high to the glove side.

That goal changed the course of the game as the Blackhawks took control on their way to a 4-2 victory.

The inability to match the Blackhawks' speed was a significant issue for the Sharks, as Chicago generated many scoring chances off the rush and seemed to catch San Jose's defenders flat-footed.

They also had trouble keeping the Chicago forwards out of Nabokov's way as most of the goals by the 'Hawks were a result of too much traffic around his net. The Blackhawks have iced a well-balanced attack in this series, getting offensive contributions from their entire roster.

When the Sharks generated scoring chances, they found themselves thwarted by Niemi, who's outplayed Nabokov in the first two games and looks like a seasoned playoff veteran rather than a rookie.

Another problem for the Sharks is most of their top scorers went quiet in the first two games, especially the second line of Joe Pavelski, Ryane Clowe and Devin Setoguchi, who failed to account for a single point. First-liners Joe Thornton and Dany Heatley only managed an assist each in those opening games.

For the Sharks to get back into this series they must find a way to either match or neutralize Chicago's speed and generate more traffic in front of Niemi. And their top scorers must make their presence felt. They cannot risk falling behind any further.

The Habs Nots Midway through the Pittsburgh-Montreal series, I suggested the Canadiens' postseason bubble would eventually burst.

At that point, the Canadiens had upset the heavily favored Washington Capitals and would go on to do the same to the defending Stanley Cup champion Penguins with a strong combination of stellar goaltending, shot-blocking defense and clutch goal-scoring despite being outplayed by a wide margin.

In the opening two games of the Eastern Conference finals, it appears the Philadelphia Flyers have found a way to burst that bubble.

The Flyers humiliated the unprepared Canadiens in a 6-0 rout in Game 1 followed by taking a page from the Montreal playbook, employing stellar goaltending, stingy defense and clutch scoring to shut out the Habs again in Game 2 by a score of 3-0.

Although the Canadiens had a better effort in Game 2, they once again fell behind early. And while they outshot the Flyers in the first two periods, they were unable to take advantage of their opportunities.

A significant reason for the Habs' offensive woes is the lack of big offensive forwards who can outmuscle the bigger, physical Philadelphia blueliners to create scoring chances and pounce on rebounds. They have no one physically capable of screening Flyers goalie Michael Leighton, who successfully stymied the Montreal offense in the first two games.

Montreal's power play and penalty killing, so effective in the first two rounds, floundered in Philadelphia. The Canadiens failed to score on nine PP opportunities while nearly half the Flyers goals in the first two games came with Montreal short-handed.

More troubling for the Canadiens is the play of goalie Jaroslav Halak, who was the main reason they upset the Capitals and Penguins. He didn't play well in Philadelphia, raising concerns he may be wearing down from the heavy workload this spring.

The Flyers may have been outshot by the Canadiens in the first two games, but they've had the better offensive chances and done a better job cashing in on them by driving to the net, generating traffic in the slot and pouncing on rebounds -- something the Habs haven't been able to do.

Forwards Daniel Briere, Simon Gagne, Claude Giroux and Scott Hartnell have been the Flyers' chief scoring threats, employing a "stop-and-go" style within the Habs zone which has drawn the Montreal defenders out of position.

With the series shifting back to Montreal, the Canadiens cannot afford to lose in the next two games or this series will be over in four or five games.

To get back into this series their forwards will have to do a better job driving to the net, pouncing on rebounds and generating traffic in front of Leighton, while Halak and his defense must do a better job against the Flyers speedy, opportunistic scorers.

The Canadiens have displayed an extraordinary ability in this year's playoffs to bounce back just when it seems they're on the ropes, but it's going to take an extraordinary effort to get back into this series.

Perhaps they can find a way just as they did against the Capitals and Penguins, or perhaps this time, their bubble truly has burst.

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