Mike Brophy

Veteran hockey columnist Mike Brophy writes Mondays, Wednesdays and Friday on Sportsnet.ca and appears regularly on Hockeycentral.

Another big game for Flyers' Claude Giroux could have him tossed into the Conn Smythe Trophy race.

Claude Giroux didn’t exactly have the year he’d hoped for this season with the Philadelphia Flyers.

Then again, who did?

The 22-year-old Hearst, Ont., native scored 16 goals and 47 points in 82 games, but was minus-9 and really didn’t take his game to the next level as some imagined when he scored nine goals and 27 points in 42 games as a rookie the year before.

But, like so many on his team, Giroux has saved his best for the post-season. In fact, you could easily make the case the playoffs are his time of year. Playing on a team that clearly leans hard on its captain, Mike Richards, as well as veteran defenceman Chris Pronger, Giroux has been a pleasant surprise as the Flyers have gotten themselves back into the Stanley Cup final with the Chicago Blackhawks.

It was Giroux’s overtime goal -- his ninth goal in 20 post-season games -- that gave the Flyers a 3-2 win over the visiting Blackhawks Wednesday night. After two games in Chicago when he was held pointless and was minus-3, Giroux also counted two assists for a three-point night and was plus-2.

Perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised it was Giroux who saved the day for the Flyers. A loss, after all, would have meant a sure loss in the final for his team. They came back from 3-0 against the Boston Bruins, but the Hawks are a different kettle of fish. There’s no way Chicago builds a commanding 3-0 lead and then lets it slip away.

Giroux has a solid reputation for coming through big-time at this point in the season. In his final year of junior with the Gatineau Olympiques of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, he put up unbelievable numbers: 17 goals and 34 assists for 51 points in 19 playoff games. That gave him an astounding 24 goals and 54 assists for 78 points in 41 playoff games.

Last season Giroux made his NHL playoff debut with an impressive two goals and five points in six games. All told, he has 25 points in 26 career playoff games.

Following his big goal in Game 3, Giroux said he was happy to make amends for his poor play in the first two games of the final.

Our line didn’t play well in Chicago," Giroux said. "Actually, me and Ash and Carcillo, we talked together and we wanted to have a big game for our team. Anytime you’re not producing or playing well, you are just going to keep it simple and go back to just working hard. I think we did that and we tried to win as many battles as we could."

Philadelphia coach Peter Laviolette said he thinks Giroux may have been nervous in the first two games in Chicago, but the kid settled down upon returning home to the friendly confines of the Wachovia Center.

"I think he loosened up a bit," Laviolette said. "You have to remember, it’s the Stanley Cup final. I think he came in -- and we talked about it -- just to loosen up a bit. At this time of year you know what you have to do to be successful. There’s a lot of work. There’s a lot of intensity. There’s a lot of competitiveness in the battles.

"In the same sense, if you tighten up too much, you seize up a little. We talked about just having some fun tonight; come out and let everything roll... I think he took that advice because he was smiling all day. He came to the rink and went out and played a great game. Sometimes you need to loosen up a bit. He’s a talented kid."

For the Flyers to rebound in the series and possibly win their first Stanley Cup since 1974-75, it just may be a player such as Giroux who tips the series in his team’s favour. It seems as though the star forwards on both teams -- the players many expected to lead their clubs –- may have hit the wall in what has been a very long year because of the Winter Olympics.

Richards and Carter have been strangely silent for the Flyers while Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane are still trying to find their games for the Hawks, although Kane did score a huge breakaway goal in Game 3.

Giroux, meanwhile, looks like he’s just getting warmed up. Another big game like the one he played on Wednesday and you can bet his name will be tossed into the Conn Smythe Trophy race.