PHILADELPHIA — Above the door exiting the dressing room of the Philadelphia Flyers is the framed slogan, “The harder the battle, the sweeter the victory.” Everything, it seems, has been done the hard way by these Flyers in the Stanley Cup playoffs.
They got into the postseason on a shootout in the final regular-season game; they fell behind 3-0 in a second-round series, and 3-0 in that series’ seventh game. They fell into a two-game hole in the Cup Finals to the Chicago Blackhawks.
It’s now a one-game hole after Wednesday’s Cup classic Game 3, which Philly won 4-3 in overtime at the loud and intense Wachovia Center.
“For us, (down) 2-0 is comfortable,” said Flyers coach Peter Laviolette, brought in during the season to replace John Stevens behind the bench.
The Flyers took the ice to the theme of “Rocky,” the symbolic choice of so many previous Philadelphia sports teams in any quest for glory. But, “Yo, Adrian,” this is the real deal team. The Flyers seemed like a team hopelessly lost at one point, beset by sloppy play, inconsistent performance from some high-dollar players and even some reported internal dissension.
But led by the former Cup-winning Carolina coach Laviolette and a renewed commitment from the high-dollar stars, Philly has made more comebacks than Brett Favre, The Who and Kiss combined, or so it has seemed.
Question is, can the Flyers pull off one more full comeback against a scary-good Chicago team?
“I’m going to wake up tomorrow morning feeling the same way: I’m 100 percent confident in the guys in the room, to be able to win any hockey game against anybody,” Laviolette said.
Asked if this was the most inspirational team he has coached, Laviolette said: “It has been for a long time. But once we wake up tomorrow morning, we know we have to hold serve on home ice. I think the guys will be fine with that.”
Flyers forward Claude Giroux won the game at 5:59 of OT, tipping in a shot by former DU defenseman Matt Carle. The Flyers came back to tie the game 3-3 on the first shift after Chicago’s Patrick Kane scored on a breakaway at 2:50, and Philadelphia overcame a disallowed goal a minute before Giroux scored — after Simon Gagne thought a shot went in but replays proved it rolled along the goal line, but never over.
Former Avalanche and current Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville called it a “game that could have gone either way,” and he knows his team is still ahead and will have home-ice advantage no matter what happens in Game 4 on Friday night here.
But these are the Flyers, who are in the middle of another comeback quest.
“I think our whole team just has a belief in our inner selves,” Giroux said. “Anytime we get adversity we find a way to get it done. We just have a lot of character in the room. Guys really want to win.”
The Flyers won their first game in the Cup Finals since Game 6 of the 1987 series against Edmonton. Twenty-three years is a long time to wait between victories.
“We just have to find a way to get three more,” said Flyers forward Scott Hartnell, who had a goal and assist. “We know we have the ability to do it.”
Adrian Dater: 303-954-1360, adater@denverpost.com or
Game recap
The Post’s three stars
1. Scott Hartnell.
Flyers forward had a goal and an assist, and he set a physical tone.
2. Patrick Kane.
Had a goal and an assist for Chicago.
3. Claude Giroux.
Scored the OT winner and added two assists.
What you might have missed
The Flyers have outshot Chicago a combined 30-8 in the third periods of the last two games.
Quotable
“It’s not as wide open as you would think for two fast, hard- checking teams. It’s tight out there.” — Flyers coach Peter Laviolette
Adrian Dater, The Denver Post
Stanley Cup finals
Chicago vs. Philadelphia
Chicago leads series 2-1
Best-of-seven series; * — if necessary
Chicago 6, Philadelphia 5
Chicago 2, Philadelphia 1
Wednesday: Philadelphia 4, Chicago 3 (OT)
Friday: at Philadelphia, 6 p.m., VS
Sunday: at Chicago, 6 p.m., KUSA-9
Wed., June 9: at Philadelphia, 6 p.m., KUSA-9*
Friday, June 11: at Chicago, 6 p.m., KUSA-9*
