There were two dynamics at play as that first period ended with the Blackhawks holding a 3-0 lead. The first dynamic was that Chicago mixed up its line combination and came out storming in a manner that it had not shown since its 6-5 victory in Game 1. The second dynamic was that, despite the aforementioned storming, the Flyers' deficit would have been only 1-0 had Leighton been able to stop the stoppable shots.
But there were two bad goals, and it was Boucher in the net for the second period. Leighton sat on the bench wearing a baseball cap. And now Laviolette has 2 days to think about a decision that likely will be dissected either way for years to come, if it goes bad.
Leighton or Boucher?
After the game, Laviolette said, "I don't have an answer for that."
Down the hall from the interview room where Laviolette sat at the United Center, there was more intrigue. As it turns out, CBC showed in its broadcast a tape of Leighton getting hit by a shot, apparently on an unprotected part of a knee, and leaving the pregame warmups early. How it might have affected his play is unclear - because, to be fair, he did make some good saves in the first few minutes, when the Blackhawks were really coming hard.
Leighton said, "Yeah, I took a shot off my knee in warmups, but it didn't affect my performance at all."
So there is that. There also is a team full of players that is well aware of the kicking it just endured. The last thing any of the Flyers was going to do was bury the goaltender, especially since nobody knows where Laviolette is headed on this thing.
As captain Mike Richards said, speaking for all of them, "It was just us leaving a goaltender out to dry."
