CHICAGO -- One of the more amusing story lines of the Stanley Cup finals has been what happens to the puck after games in Chicago, and Blackhawks winger Ben Eager made sure the story lived another day after Game 5 on Sunday.
Eager grabbed the puck at the United Center as soon as the final horn sounded after the Hawks' 7-4 victory gave them a 3-2 series lead over the Philadelphia Flyers.
Flyers defenseman Chris Pronger had grabbed the pucks after the Blackhawks' victories in the first two games, and he said he threw them in the garbage, where they belonged.
Eager had scored the game-winner in Game 2, but he wasn't able to keep the game puck as a souvenir. He and Pronger had words after that game and both were assessed misconduct penalties.
Eager wouldn't be denied Sunday, but he wasn't in the mood to talk about it as he refused to be interviewed.
"We had it, so we just picked it up," said Hawks center John Madden, who said there was no plan to prevent Pronger from continuing his routine.
Did the Hawks just happen to have the puck or was Eager tweaking Pronger, who struggled through a minus-5 performance?
Game 6 is Wednesday in Philadelphia.