Hawks like where they're at despite Game 3 loss

PHILADELPHIA --  The Philadelphia Flyers played with desperation on Wednesday night. The Chicago Blackhawks came close, but failed to match it and saw their 2-0 lead in the Stanley Cup Final trimmed in half with a 4-3 overtime loss in Game 3 at the Wachovia Center.
 
Despite the loss, though, the Blackhawks have a chance to put the Flyers on the brink of elimination Friday night when the series resumes in the City of Brotherly Love. A victory in Game 4 and Chicago can return home with a chance to deliver the Windy City its first Stanley Cup title since 1961.
 
"If I was on their side, I would look at it as this is Game 7," Blackhawks forward Adam Burish said. "For them, this was it. They had to win this game, and they came with a good effort. They played a heck of a game. We did a lot of good things, too. We played a good game. We've got to find a way to steal one on the road."
 
For the second straight game, the Flyers dominated in the third period as they once again outshot Chicago 15-4. Just 20 seconds after Patrick Kane gave the Blackhawks a 3-2 lead at 2:50 of the third, Ville Leino tied the game when he tapped Arron Asham's rebound past Antti Niemi. All the momentum gained from Kane's first goal of the Stanley Cup Final vanished almost instantly.
 
"That's tough," Burish said. "That's the big thing in playoffs … when you score a goal and you have momentum, you've got to keep it. You can't give up a goal right away, and we did. It gives them the momentum right back. That's something we'll continue to talk about."
 
The Flyers took advantage of that momentum and cut the series deficit in half when Claude Giroux redirected Matt Carle's shot past Niemi at 5:59 of overtime. It came less than a minute after Simon Gagne nearly won the game on a goal that was denied following a video review.
 
"It's one of those games that from start to finish could have gone either way," Chicago coach Joel Quenneville said. "Timely goal by them at the end. We had some timely goals ourselves."
 
It's now up to the Blackhawks to erase any momentum the Flyers may have possibly gained with their Game 3 victory. Chicago will spend Thursday trying to learn from mistakes made during a loss that has suddenly turned this into anybody's series.
 
"Just respond," Burish said. "It's still a confident group. That was a fun hockey game to be a part of. That was an exciting game. It's always tough when you lose in overtime. You feel maybe they've got a little bit of momentum now. I think our mindset now is let's try to get that momentum back as soon as we can.
 
"Before the series, if you guys said we'd be up 2-1 after three, I'd say, 'Sign me up, I'm in. We'll take that.' We're still in a good spot." 
 
Follow Brian Compton on Twitter: @BComptonNHL