Flyers Crushed by Blackhawks

Chris Pronger and Philadelphia's stiff defense suddenly went soft, and the Flyers are facing elimination.

After pushing Dustin Byfuglien and the Blackhawks around for the better part of the Stanley Cup Final, Pronger and his blueline mates ran out of steam in the 7-4 loss on Sunday night.

Pronger, Matt Carle, Braydon Coburn and Kimmo Timonen were so good in front of goalie Michael Leighton while the Flyers won Games 3 and 4 at home to storm back in this series. With the United Center crowd going eardrum-cracking crazy, however, the Blackhawks came out with a bundle of energy and scored three times in a six-minute span late in the first period.

The Flyers never recovered.

“We got outworked pretty good,” Flyers coach Peter Laviolette said.

The Blackhawks blitzed Leighton with three goals in the final 7:43 of the first period as Chicago quickly found the offensive game that had helped it make the finals.

Leighton was pulled -- for the second time in the series in favor of Brian Boucher -- after giving up three goals on 13 shots in the first period. It was later revealed that a knee injury suffered during warm-ups could have played into the decision.

“We weren't very good in the first period,” Laviolette said, adding he didn't know who would start in goal for Game 6.

Trailing 3-0, the Flyers wasted little time in getting one of the goals back as Ville Leino took the puck to side of the net and tried to stuff it in. But after hitting goalie Antti Niemi, the puck sat just off the line before Hartnell came in and knocked it home just 32 seconds into the period.

But the Hawks would answer less than three minutes later when Kane beat Boucher to put the Hawks back up three goals. Kane, who had been with Byfuglien on a struggling Blackhawks first line that Quenneville split up, got his second goal of the finals on a nice pass from Andrew Ladd. Ladd had his shot blocked by Pronger but recovered the puck and passed it to Kane, who streaked to the net uncovered to beat Boucher for a 4-1 lead.

That was how it was in Game 5 as the Flyers suffered various defensive breakdowns or committed silly penalties. Pronger was helpless in the penalty box when Dustin Byfuglien scored for the first time in the series.

Pronger finished as a minus-5.

"Thanks for the green jacket. That's nice of you," Pronger said, when one reporter asked him about his performance. "Always positive. Appreciate that."

Scott Hartnell, Timonen, James van Riemsdyk and Simon Gagne scored for the Flyers. Gagne's goal with 2:36 left made it 6-4, but a half-minute later Byfuglien converted the empty-netter.

All five wins in the series have come on home ice. The Flyers come home to the Wachovia Center for Game 6 on Wednesday night.

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