In honor of the 10-year anniversary of the 2010 Stanley Cup team, NBC Sports Chicago is re-airing each of the Blackhawks' 16 postseason wins from the run that ended a 49-year championship drought. You can join the conversation using #HawksRewind on social media.
After knocking off the Flyers at the United Center in Game 5, the Blackhawks went to Philadelphia with a chance to end their 49-year Stanley Cup drought and that's exactly what they did with a 4-3 overtime victory. Here are three things we noticed in the win:
1. Stars show up when lights shine brightest
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In the biggest game of their lives, the Blackhawks' core group delivered in a significant way:
— Patrick Kane had a three-point night, including the memorable overtime winner.
— Patrick Sharp was on the ice for all four Blackhawks goals and zero against. He also won nine of 14 faceoffs for a 64.3 percent success rate.
— Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook played half the game and had positive possession numbers.
— Jonathan Toews won 64 percent of his faceoffs, registered a primary assist on the first goal of the game and led all forwards with 23:21 of ice time.
—Marian Hossa didn't get on the scoresheet, but led the team with five shots on goal, had three takeaways and was on the ice for 22 shot attempts for and 12 against at even strength, according to Natural Stat Trick.
What more could you ask for?
2. How close the Flyers came to taking the lead...
NHL
Antti Niemi made some key saves during the Blackhawks' postseason run. But in hindsight, perhaps the biggest one of his career came with 1:28 left in regulation of Game 6 against Philadelphia.
Flyers fans were going absolutely crazy after their team scored the game-tying goal with 3:59 left, and the Blackhawks were basically just trying to get to overtime to reset. But it almost didn't get there after Jeff Carter found himself wide open in the slot, only to be denied by Niemi, who desperately fought off the puck by lunging forward to take away the angle.
If the Flyers score on that play to go up 4-3, who knows what would've happened? Which brings us to our final point...
3. The Jonathan Toews injury that nobody knew about
If the Blackhawks were forced to play a Game 7 at home, they might not have had their captain for it. Wait, what?
Yes, that's right. Toews was injured on the Flyers' game-tying goal in the third period after Scott Hartnell fell on his left knee, which Toews could be seen grabbing immediately but nobody realized it at the time. And the only reason Joel Quenneville didn't hold him out was to make sure the Flyers didn't get wind of it.
Let's be real, Toews probably would have found a way to play in Game 7, but he sure wouldn't have been as effective. The injury turned out to be significant MCL sprain and lingered into the summer.
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