Help Me Understand Hockey

I have never been a hockey fan, and I am admittedly am a bandwagon Black Hawks fan that knows very little about the game. I don’t know the penalties, what the hell icing is, and to be honest last night was the first time I have ever sat down and watched and a complete hockey game ever.

It was an exciting game that resulted in a 2 -1 victory for the Hawks giving them a 2-0 series lead in the NHL Finals, for those of you that missed it. But I have a question I would like to present to you true hockey fans.

With the Hawks having a 2 – 0 lead going into the 3rd period why did they start playing less aggressively? The most logical answer is because they are trying to prevent any huge mistakes from happening and allowing the Flyers back into the game. But to me it seems like a pretty poor strategy because you really put the pressure on Niemi then.

The Hawks had dominated the game in my opinion by being aggressive and attacking the Flyers with a ton of shots on goal. To me it felt like most of the first and second periods were hard hitting and spent inside of the Flyers territory. The Hawks had 3 to 1 shots on goal compared to the Flyers. Then comes the 3rd period and all of the sudden it seemed like the Hawks were battling off constant shots on goal really putting the pressure on Niemi.

So why? I know that the Flyers spent a lot more time on offense in the 3rd than they did on defense. And I am sure they fired off more shots on goal in the 3rd than they did in the 1st and 2nd periods combined. Why didn’t the Black Hawks play more aggressively on offense?